Theft
by gummibar
Summary: Fresh out of Lyoko, there's a lot of things Aelita still doesn't understand. Someone from her past returns to finish what he started, and her own confusion and fear locks her away from her friends as they desperately try to help her before it's too late. Soon enough, though, it really does become too late. JxA. Rated M for Rape, Violence.
1. Introduction

**_*WARNING*_: This story is Rated M for Sexual Content and Violence. It is NOT pornographic in nature, or a "lemon" as some call it, and there is NO underage sex between characters such as Jeremie and Aelita. There _will, _however, be strong sexual content later on in the story, as well as descriptive violence. This is a warning now for those who wish to not become involved with such a story. **

**The main pairing in this story is Jeremie and Aelita, but there will be hints of Ulrich and Yumi here and there for the Ulumi fans as well.**

**Please review! I'm nervous about starting this and want to know your reactions!**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

It hurts.

All I can think about is the pain. The throbbing, the burning, and the red liquid that drips down my leg with each hot pulsation. It really hurts.

I want Jeremie with me so that I can squeeze his hand as I writhe in agony; an attempt to transmit my suffering through him… but I can't let anyone touch me ever again. I twitch every time he even tickles my thin strands of hair, wrapping them between his slender fingers. He asks me what's wrong, but every time I repeat the same exact lie: Nothing.

Nothing at all.


	2. Day One

**So, I'm not sure how well this story is going to go, nor where I can even take it. For now I'm just scrambling my ideas down to see how you react. If you like the concept so far please feel free to leave a review and tell me you want to see this happen. **

I lay against the cold, hard mattress that rests on this wooden frame, a poor excuse of a bed. My eyes are blankly fixed onto the ceiling, my pupils tracing along the rugged pattern etched into the white sheet above. The sun is slowly creeping overhead the horizon, I can feel the warmth from it's rays seeping onto my carpet and raising the temperature of this chamber I am forced to call home. Suddenly, the high-pitched, repetitive beeping begins to flash into my ears from the other side of my room. It's my alarm clock, telling me to get out of bed. I didn't sleep for a single minute all night.

Day number one… Let's see how this goes.

Reluctantly, I roll myself out of bed. My sheets are still neatly tucked into the corners against the wall, for I didn't even bother to cover myself in a blanket. I just collapsed, still wearing my day clothes, and stared at the staleness of my bare ceiling all night. I didn't even take my shoes off. For a minute, I contemplate lying back down in bed for a little longer. Since I'm already wearing my outfit for the day, I've saved myself an hour or so I'd usually spend getting ready… I could use this hour huddling against the stiffness of my comforter, glaring at my ceiling some more. Silly me, I'd almost forgotten. You can't go to school with stained clothing.

I swing open the rough, wooden doors of my dresser, staring aimlessly at the vast selection of brightly colored clothing. Pink, pink, pink, all I see is pink. It hurts my eyes. I don't want to wear pink today, but it's the only thing I own. I yank my desired blouse off of the flimsy, plastic hanger, throwing it onto the bed. Making sure my blinds are closed, I tear off the tainted clothing from the night before and kick it under my bed. I don't even want to bother washing it; it's not something I'm ever going to wear again.

As I walk over to my mattress to grab my clothing for the day, something soft and cloth like is wrapping around my feet. I look down to see my underwear tugged against my ankles. I stare at it. I can't get myself to look away, no matter how badly I want to. My pupils dilate, my heart thumps rapidly inside my chest. This little piece of fabric is making me want to jump out of that window right next to me, but I can't get myself to move, as if I've become frozen with fear. So I just stand there, naked, staring at my underwear. This would be a horrible time for Jim to barge into my door. Just as that thought crosses my fragile mind, I hear a knock against my door. I scream, thinking that, for a minute, it _was_ Jim.

"Aelita?"

No, just Jeremie. Thank God. Wait, no, this is bad… this is very, very bad. I look like a zombie, having not slept all night. Walking over to the mirror I take extra time to point out my imperfections. My face is pale today with soft rings of purple surrounding my troubled eyes. I try and smile in the mirror, but it's no use. You can tell my smile is faker than a Barbie doll. Perhaps even more fake.

"Aelita, are you awake yet?"

I can't let him see me like this. What should I do? Should I pretend to be asleep and just not answer? No, if I do that, he'll keep harassing me so that I get up for class. I clear my throat.

"Yes, I'm here," I say, awfully hoarsely.

"Can I come in?"

No, no you can't. But if I tell him no, then I'll have to explain myself, and I can't do that. I promised I'd never tell. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know what to say. I don't even know what happened, really. I just know that I'm still sore.

"Just a second…" I run over to my bed and throw on my clothes. My hair is a mess; frizzy and tangled in all sorts of maniacal directions. I try to force my brush through it, but it's no use. All it does is yank at my tender head, and I don't want to bring myself anymore pain. I open my door, greeted by the bright face of my handsome Einstein. His cheerful demeanor quickly diminishes upon looking at me, though. I guess I look worse than I thought.

"Aelita… are you okay?"

"Yes, fine," I clear my throat again and quickly fake a smile. He pauses for a moment, his eyes probing at me with a look of denial.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh huh, I just didn't sleep well."

"You look like you haven't slept in weeks."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry Aelita, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize. I'm going to class now."

"But I saved you my croissant from breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

I hastily walk away from him. I didn't look back, but I can feel him staring at me, concerned with my well-being. I'm fine though, really I am. Or at least, I think I am. This isn't at all fair. I don't even know enough about my own human anatomy to fully understand what happened. Is it supposed to hurt this much to walk? Maybe I'm just overreacting. This is probably normal.

Or maybe it's not normal at all, and I need to tell someone before it's too late. No, I can't tell. I promised I wouldn't. I don't break promises. That's something I learned about humans that was bad.


	3. Lies

Why is everyone staring at me? Stop staring. Please, stop staring. I feel like an outcast as I walk the halls of Kadic Academy. I keep my hands clenched inside the pocket of my jumper and my gaze plastered to the linoleum that travels beneath my feet, but whether or not I look I can still feel the unfriendly judgment of others being pressed upon my shoulders.

"_You're not going to tell a soul, do you understand?"_

"_Yes. I promise."_

I shake my head furiously as I walk. To others, I probably just looked like a wet dog shuddering away the wetness matted onto it's fur, but for me, it's an attempt to knock the memories right out of my head.

"Hey, Aelita!" I hear mumbled underneath my train wreck of thoughts. I wasn't paying attention, so I walk straight past her. It sounded like Yumi. I feel bad now, I should've said hello to her. I stop in my tracks and spin my head around, hoping that she would still be there so that I can have a chance and be a bit more firndly; but she's already become lost in the sea of Kadic students. I sigh. Somebody rudely bumps into me, yelling at me for standing in the middle of the hallway like an idiot. The force of their collision causes me to shriek and throw myself against the wall. Now even _more _people are staring. I feel my heart pounding against my chest and my breathing quickens. I don't know what's happening, or why I'm reacting this way, but I don't like it. The endless chatter of everyone glaring at me and spitting snide remarks blends into my ears as one overloaded mess of noise. I cup my small hands against my ears, trying to block them out, and dash down the hall. At least in my class it will be quieter.

"Morning princess," Odd calls out to me as I stumble through the door frame of my chemistry class and take a seat next to Jeremie. I don't feel like talking, but I do solemnly smile at him in a bitter attempt to keep him from asking questions. As Mrs. Hertz's shrill voice begins to reverberate throughout the room regarding pointless lectures I already know, Jeremie leans next to me and whispers into my ear.

"Are you sure you're okay, Aelita?"

"Yes, I'm fine." I wish he would stop asking. He's so overprotective sometimes, but I guess I should be thankful I have someone who wants to look out for me so much. Yumi rushes through the door looking flustered just a few minutes after the bell had rung. She must have been heading the opposite direction earlier because she forgot something. Or maybe she had another one of her weird talks with Ulrich. I'll never understand those two…

"Hey, Aelita," she pants between gasps of air. "I said hi to you earlier in the hall."

"Did you? I guess I didn't hear." No. Bad Aelita. Lying is bad. You don't break promises and you don't lie, either. But if it's protecting your friends, then is it really that bad, after all? Humans are confusing. I sink my face onto my fist, resting my elbow against the wooden table. Usually I'd be taking notes, actually paying attention, but today I don't feel like it. Maybe another day, but not today. I need a break.

"_If you don't tell me everything right now, you're going to regret it. I'll make sure of it."_

"_I… I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_You really want to play this game, Ms. Schaeffer? I'll do the same thing I did to your mother."_

"AELITA STONES!"

My eyes dart open upon the calling of my name. I gasp and look up at Mrs. Hertz, who is furiously beaming down at me.

"You know, most of us use the _night_ to sleep." Cries of laughter flood the room and I feel my face growing warm.

"I… um… sorry. Mrs. Hertz, I don't feel well, may I go to the infirmary?" She glares at me for what seems like eternity, probably thinking I'm lying. I feel as if I'm about to throw up, I don't have time for this.

"Aelita, do you want me to go with you?" Jeremie says. It only takes him one quick glance to know that I'm feeling ill. My stomach churns and I break out in a cold sweat.

"No." I blankly state. If I said anything more, I'd probably spew all over this table.

"Okay, go ahead," Mrs. Hertz finally responds. Clutching my abdomen, I shove my chair behind me and burst through the door.

* * *

**(3rd Person Point of View)**

Jeremie turns around in his seat and rests his arm against the back of his chair. He shrugs at Yumi and Odd, who raise an eyebrow at him.

"Is she okay?" Yumi asks. "She ignored me in the hall earlier."

"She's been acting weird all morning but she keeps saying she's okay. Besides, she is a girl, after all… I think this might be our problem," Jeremie points out as he turns her chair around to reveal the tiny drops of blood that are splattered onto the seat.

"Gross!" Odd screams, catching the attention of Mrs. Hertz. She slaps her ruler onto the hardwood of her desk, her angry eyes piercing into his soul.

"Odd! I'm sorry that you think my class is 'gross.'" **  
**

"Oh, no Mrs. Hertz, that's not what I… uh… heehee…" he attempts to pull off his excuse with his classic grin, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck. The rest of the class turns to him and chuckles at his embarrassment, but Yumi is none too amused. She leans over her table and grabs a closer look at the red drops that Aelita had left behind, and her heart skips a beat as a tight feeling of nervousness erupts inside her stomach.

"I hate to break it to you, but that's not the right kind of blood for that." Without even asking, Yumi gets up from her seat. Jeremie and Odd exchange each other concerned yet confused looks, and before Mrs. Hertz can even say something, she hurriedly paces out of the door.

* * *

**(Aelita's Point of View)**

It's throbbing again. I just wish the pain would hurry up and go away. Yolanda checks my temperature and sees that I'm running a fever. However, her attention is quickly directed away from the thermometer and towards my legs. She raises an eyebrow, appearing concern. Can she tell by looking at it? Is she going to find out? Oh, no. I glance down to see what's caught her eye. I'm going to go ahead and assume it's the stain of red that's spreading onto the white tissue paper that coats the exam table. I shouldn't still be bleeding, should I?

"Aelita, have you started your menstrual cycle?"

I raise an eyebrow at her. I've never even heard of that before.

"My… my what?"

"Your period."

"I thought a period was a form of punctuation." Clearly, I'm terribly wrong, judging by the perplexed expression on her face.

"I'm going to assume this is your first cycle, then." She starts rummaging through one of the drawers. I lean closer towards the edge of the bed, trying to see what it is she's looking for. She approaches me with two objects that are both wrapped in a thin plastic. One of them is a little square, but the other is a tube of some sort. I wonder what they are. I continue to stare at her, my forehead wrinkling as I raise both of my pink eyebrows. She sits down next to me and gives me the two items.

"Do you know what I just handed to you?"

Naturally, I shake my head, since I sincerely have no clue.

"Your period is something completely natural that is going to happen once a month from now on. It's the reason you're currently bleeding from there right now. This is a pad," she says as she points to the square object, "and this is a tampon," the nurse clarifies as she points to the cylinder. "These are what help absorb the bleeding so that it doesn't ruin your underwear and clothes. Which would you rather use?"

"Uh…" I'm still confused, but I look down at the two objects she's placed in my palms. "What's the difference?"

"Well, the pad sits on the lining of your underwear. The tampon goes inside of you."

"Inside where?"

"Aelita, have you taken sex education yet?"

"No."

"I think it's best we get you enrolled in that soon."

She pats my back, nudging me to jump off of the table and be on my way. I oblige her request and scoot myself towards the edge before pushing myself off. As my feet crash to the floor, though, it's almost as if I feel something tearing inside of me. The pain is unbearable and I bend over, cupping my hand over the sensitive area between my legs. Yolanda immediately rushes to my side to assure that if I'm alright, but when I remove my hand I see the creases of my palms tinted red from the blood that seethes through my underwear.

"Is this period thing supposed to hurt this much?" I ask her as I grunt from the agony.

"It can, yes. But… that's not where it's supposed to hurt. Is there something you're not telling me, Aelita?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

I take a deep breath and straighten myself up. "Yes, I'm fine," I lie. "I'm going to go to my room now, thank you Yolanda." I hold my breath and suck up the pain as I attempt to easily strut out of the infirmary. As soon as the door behind me closes, though, and I know Yolanda can no longer see me, I bend over and clutch both of my hands against the area that thuds incessantly, shooting jabs of pain through my nerves. I need to make it back to my room before someone sees me like this. For now, at least, the bleeding has stopped.

"Aelita!" Yumi screams and runs up to me. "Are you alright?"

I take another deep breath and quickly straighten myself, fighting back the urge to scream in anguish. "Yes, I'm fine, Yumi."

"Aelita, I saw the blood on your chair."

My fake little smile diminishes into a hard pressed line. Now what do I say? Just say what Yolanda said.

"It's just my period, that's all."

"Do you even know what a period is?"

"Well, not really, but that's what Yolanda told me. I have to go back to my room now; I have a lot of studying to do."

"You don't have to lie to me Aelita, if there's something wrong you know you can always tell me. You can tell any of us."

"_You're not going to tell a soul, do you understand?"_

I cringe as his raspy voice echoes inside my head. No, Yumi, I really can't. I'll just have to keep spitting out more lies.


	4. The Enemy

"_Oi, come out of there!"_

I'm sitting inside a house. Old, musty, abandoned. It must be the Hermitage, the house that my friends and I discovered just outside the forest that surrounds Kadic. I stand up from the floor and look out the window, and I see two men dressed in all black. I scream, running away from the window before bumping into an old man. He has thick glasses that hide his eyes and frazzled gray hair. He grabs my hand and forces me to follow him. I don't know who he is. I'm frightened. The wool sweater he wears smells mildewed, and his lab coat flaps in the gust of his pace and hits me in the face. The men that wear black are behind us in hot pursuit.

"AH!" I shriek, springing upwards in my bed. Just a dream. Every time my heart starts thumping like this, I feel woozy and get a head ache. I think Jeremie mentioned this was related to something called adrenaline. I can't wait to be more up to date on the wonders of the world. Especially since, right now, all I can see is the darkness that lurks in every corner. I don't like the darkness. It was dark the other night, very dark… and so now all I feel is terror whenever the lights go out or the sun falls behind the horizon.

I think I have to use the bathroom. It's a strange sensation I haven't quite adjusted to yet, but Jeremie managed to explain it to me as best as he could, and he made very clear that it's something I really need to pay attention to. I'm so thankful that I have Jeremie to hold my hand throughout my journey on Earth. I wonder if maybe it would be best to talk to him about this…

"_You're not going to tell a soul, do you understand?"_

No. I made a promise. My lower abdomen starts to tingle, pulling me out of my daze. Reluctantly, I escape the warmth of my mountain of blankets. The chill from the emptiness of my room wraps itself around my frail body and causes me to tremble. I walk down the hall to the lady's room. I hate walking alone, especially at night. It doesn't matter if I'm in the security of the dorms that is on constant lockdown by Jim, I still always feel like I'm being watched. It always feels like he's there, stalking me… watching my every move.

Inside the stall, I am once again met with the sight of a puddle of blood sitting in my underwear. It's been two days now, is this supposed to be happening? Using the restroom burns. It feels like pouring corrosive acid onto an open wound. This doesn't feel normal. But, who am I to say what does and doesn't feel normal? I'm not even human.

Although sometimes… it feels like I am. Sometimes I get these… instincts. Human instincts. And sometimes, I feel as if I've already lived here before. I know that's silly, but, still…

After washing my hands, I walk out of the door only to bump into a sleepy Jeremie who is groggily wandering the halls.

"Aelita!" he calls, pleased to see me but at the same time also shocked. "What are you doing up?"

"I just had to use the bathroom."

"Ah," he smiles. "Same here."

"Well, I'm going back to my room now. Goodnight."

"Goodni- Oh my God, Aelita!"

"Huh?" I quickly turn back around to see him staring at me with horror planted on his face. Almost as if he'd just seen a ghost. "What is it?"

"You're bleeding, Aelita!" I hadn't even noticed. I look down to see a thin stream of blood slowly trickling down my leg. "Are you okay?" he cries.

"Oh, how embarrassing," I try and brush off with another one of my plastic smiles. "I'm fine. It's just my comma. I mean my period. Yes well, good night, Jeremie!" I turn around and scamper down the hall, my feet harshly thudding against the hardwood and surely annoying those on the floor below. If I don't get this bleeding to stop soon, I'm going to have a really hard time pulling this off.

Then I remember the square object that Nurse Yolanda handed to me. A pad, I think she called it. She said it helps absorb bleeding. Surely it would work for this kind of bleeding, wouldn't it? I change into fresher night clothes and place the so called pad inside my underwear as Yolanda instructed. It'll do, for now. The other pair of underwear gets kicked under my bed, along with the other garments I'll never touch again.

Morning comes quicker than I would like for it to. All I can think about is the dream I had last night. I want to know who that strange, older man that seemed so close to me was. I don't quite understand dreams or nightmares yet, they're so unique, yet confusing at the same time. I want to go back to the Hermitage today. I want to explore more. I almost feel as if this old house is calling out to me, begging me to come to it. I feel it pleading for it's inhabitants to once again thrive under it's roof. But, then why is it crying out to _me? _Emotions are odd. Yumi warned me that, as a female, this would be something I would have to get used to the most. I still don't quite understand why it would differ for me than it would for someone like Jeremie…

Fall is coming, so it's getting cold out. I make sure to grab a jacket and a scarf before I walk out the door. It's Saturday, and I was lucky enough to not be scheduled any morning classes, so I've got the whole morning to explore the Hermitage without the meddling of my friends. I like that they call it Fall, because there are leaves falling to the ground everywhere I step. I like the sound of them crunching beneath my feet. It's calming, in a way. Walking alone in the forest, though, is less calming.

The Hermitage frightens me a little, but I feel like I have to go inside. I'm not sure why, this is one of those instincts I was referring to earlier. I just have to. I prance up the stone steps that lead to the front door and help myself into the abandoned home. I like to walk, I like hearing my footsteps echo against different types of flooring. I cough as I inhale the musty air of the Hermitage; the dust scrapes against the fleshy lining of my lungs with each breath. My legs are shaking and my heart is beating against my chest like a drum. I can hear it clearly without even trying. Small streaks of sunlight peer through the cracks of broken windows and glow onto the splintered floor of this once lively home. Nothing in this room sticks out to me much, just torn furniture and various amounts of junk scattered across the ground. Upstairs, though, there is a room that I find intriguing. The rest of the house is dark and brown, but the walls of this room are a faded shade of what was once a bright, bubbly pink. It looks like the color of something I would wear.

"_Daddy, I'm going up to my room."_

I hear a little girl's voice. Perplexed, I look around to see if there is anyone who may have followed me here. This is the room that was in my dream. That window right over there is the same one that I watched two scary men dressed in black scream out to me, demanding I come outside. I hear the same childish voice again behind me.

A tiny girl, she looks about the age of 11 or 12, scuttles into the room looking panicked. She has pink hair, just like me. How strange. She's… she's even wearing the same outfit that I was wearing as I stepped out of the scanner for the first time! Why, she looks exactly like me in every way possible… I don't understand. She… _is _me. She has to be. There's no other explanation.

The girl has a doll in her hand; it looks like an elf, and runs towards the painting on the wall. I remember that elf. I know I've seen it before. There's a hole behind the poster, and she stuffs the doll inside before meeting with an old man at the door, who grabs her hand and they both run off. It's the same man I saw in my dream last night. They look close. Is that her father? Is that… is that _my _father? But I'm not human. How can I have a father? My head starts hurting. I lean against the dresser next to me and grunt in pain as I crush my eyelids shut.

"_Oi, come out of there!"_

Those voices. The men in black. I run to the window. There's no one there.

"Aelita?"

"AH!" I turn around, thankfully to see Jeremie and not anyone else.

"I figured I might find you here. You didn't answer your phone."

"Huh?" I check my phone to see three missed calls from Jeremie. I hadn't realized I left it on silent. "Why aren't you in class?" I ask.

"I just got out of class."

"Oh, really?" Wow, I've been here longer than I thought.

"Are you okay?"

"You ask that question a lot."

"I'm worried about you, Aelita. Can I talk to you?"

Uh oh. Does he know? Did he find out? It starts throbbing again. It throbs in sync with the aching in my head. I feel queasy all of a sudden, and I stumble over to the tattered mattress lying on the floor. He sits down next to me and looks me directly in the eyes. He looks serious. I've never seen this kind of Jeremie before. I kind of like it, actually. I glance down at his hands as he takes ahold of both of mine. They're nice and warm, and mine are freezing and clammy.

"Aelita… you know if you have a problem, you can always talk to me about it. Even if you feel like you can't tell anyone else." I stare at him. I open my mouth to speak, but force myself to stay quiet. I gape at the floor to avoid more slightly awkward eye contact. My gaze travels along the swirls of the warped wood. "Lita, we don't keep secrets from each other." He looks sad. He must be hurt that I'm hiding something from him. I like when he calls me Lita, though. At least now he's got my attention.

"I can't tell you." My eyes start to water. I'm not sure why. I've seen Jeremie with water on his face before, but he never explained to me why it was happening. There was a lot of water on my face the other night, too. I think maybe this emotion is connected. He looks even sadder, now.

"You're crying, Lita."

"What is crying?" I ask him as I pat the wetness against my cheeks. Some of the drops meet my lips. It tastes salty. I don't like it.

"It's something people do when they're sad. They do it when they're happy too, sometimes, but I don't think that's the case for you. Why are you sad, Aelita?"

I cringe, which forces more tears to flow from my tightly shut eyes.

"_Hey, what are you doing? H-hey! Get off of me! GET OFF!"_

"_Tell me everything, right now. Or I'll make sure you regret it."_

"_I don't have anything to tell you! STOP IT!"_

"_Alright, you asked for it."_

"Lita?" There he goes again with that name. I'm so weak. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because… I promised I wouldn't." I want to tell you, Jeremie. I really do. But I can't. This is for your own good.

"Promised who?"

"I don't… I don't know..." And that _is_ the truth. I don't know who he is. I just know he's an enemy.


	5. Nightmares

"_Mommy?" _A tiny little girl with sparkling pink hair sits on the luxurious carpet of her living room, playing with a bright collection of building blocks. Her mother sits in the chair, reading a magazine, while keeping an eye on her daughter.

"_Yes, darling?" _she asks, folding her magazine inside her hands.

"_Why is Daddy always in the basement?"_

"_Daddy is a very busy man."_

"_What does he do?"_

"_He works… well… he works with… with computers!" _The woman plays with her words for a while, trying to figure out a way she can describe her husband's career in a way that her child can understand.

"_What's a computer?"_

She sniggers at her curious daughters never ending train of questions.

"_Mommy?"_

"_Yes, Aelita?"_

"_How come sometimes I see men in black watching me through my window?"_

The magazine slips out of her weakened grasp, her healthy complexion washing away with fear.

I briskly spring upwards in my bed as the shrill cry of a familiar voice pierces my ears. Aelita. This is the third time this week I've heard her screaming down the hall, and this time I'm going to figure out what's going on. She's hiding something from me, I know she is.

"Aelita?" I quietly call her name as I sneak her door open, peeping inside. Low and behold, she's sitting in her bed panting heavily. The collar of her nightshirt is drenched in sweat, she looks so scared. It hurts me to see her like this, but I know that deep inside she's hurting more than I am. I just don't know why. I walk over to her and sit down on the edge of her bed. As soon as she sees me, she wraps herself around me. I'm a little taken back at first, but I quickly adjust to her initiative and swing my arms around her, waiting for her to calm down.

"I keep having bad dreams," she finally tells me.

"Do you want to talk about them?" She stares at me for a bit. I can tell that she's afraid I won't take her seriously. She takes a deep breath and regains her composure.

"Well, the dreams aren't always exactly the same… but they always involve the same people. These scary looking government agents. I don't know who they are or why I keep seeing them. I've heard myself refer to them as the men in black inside my dreams."

"What are these men doing?"

"Jeremie… you have to be human to have parents, don't you?"

That's an unusual question. "Well… yes, I guess. Why?"

"The men are after my mother. If I'm not human, I don't have a mother, do I? But I know that's who she's supposed to be. She has pink hair just like I do, and a younger version of myself calls her mommy in my dreams. So she has to be."

"Not necessarily. Dreams are strange things, Aelita. They don't always mean anything."

"I suppose not."

"Jeremie…"

"Yes, Aelita?"

"The dreams aren't always when I'm sleeping."

I gape at her slightly, my eyes widening. "You mean you're seeing these people when you're awake?"

"Well… yes." She directs her gaze elsewhere. I'm a little concerned. Aelita has been acting so weird lately. "Is that bad?" She acts, clenching her blanket and raising it towards her chest. I place my index finger and thumb upon my jawline, looking towards the wall as I ponder the thought of Aelita having hallucinations.

"I think I will go do some more research on the Hermitage. After all, it is strange that there's a passage to the sewers in the basement. Whoever owned that house probably has a connection to the supercomputer!" I quickly leave Aelita's side and run to the door frame, about to close the door behind me until I hear my name.

"Jeremie?"

I instantly turn around. "Yes, Aelita?"

"Can… can I come with you?"

I smile at her. "Sure, Aelita."

As expected, it doesn't take long before Aelita is peacefully snoozing on my sheets. I know that she just didn't want to be alone, and I'm okay with having her with me. I like her company, even if she's asleep. Google has brought me a load of interesting information on the Hermitage. I've managed to find the name of a man named "Franz Hopper." I wonder if perhaps it's the same man Aelita says she has been dreaming about and having visions of. According to this website, Franz Hopper was once a science teacher at Kadic Academy, and he was the owner of this strange house. If he was the owner of the house that has a link to the factory in it's basement… then he must have something to do with the supercomputer! I can't wait to tell Aelita and the others. We might finally learn more about Lyoko and it's origins… and even Aelita's origins.

I hear whimpering coming from the corner of my room. Aelita is squirming under my covers and making frustrating noises… she must be having another nightmare. Poor thing. I want to help her, but I don't know what to do if she won't tell me what's going on… I spin my chair around and watch her as she writhes around in my bed. I wish I knew what to do.

"No! Stop it!" she silently cries. "Stop! Please, let me go! You're hurting me!"

I get out of my chair and gently shake her. Her eyes dart open and she fearfully backs up against my bed, letting out another terrified scream.

"It's okay Aelita, it's me, Jeremie… you were having another bad dream."

"Oh," she pants.

I go to turn on the light of my room before joining her side in my bed. Immediately though, I wish I had left my lights off… because I don't like what I see.

"Aelita…" I gasp under my breath in disbelief. She is almost covered in bruises. Deep purple marks line her neck and collarbone. She has bruises on her wrists, too. Something tells me that what I'm seeing is not all that she's hiding. "Where… where did you get these?" I gently take her wrist into my hand, rubbing my thumb against the purple and yellow splotch on her arm. She winces as I touch it, meaning it's still sore… meaning it was put there recently. She wraps the blanket around her entire body, saving only her head. She looks ashamed, but also frightened.

"I fell. I'm clumsy, that's all."

"That's _not _all, Aelita. I'm not stupid. I know you're hiding something. Please, tell me Aelita. Please."

She stares at me and opens her mouth as if she's about to speak, but nothing comes out. She wants to tell me, I can tell by the look on her face that she's desperate to confess, but there's some sort of greater power that's keeping her from doing so. I sigh. This is going to be difficult.

"Aelita, you said you promised someone you couldn't tell, right?"

She silently nods her head.

"Is the person you promised the one who did this to you?"

She doesn't say anything, but the tears that ensue already tell me her answer. She throws herself into my arms again, just as she did earlier this night, and I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly as she starts weeping into my shirt. I have no idea what's going on. I don't know what happened, why it happened, or who made it happen… but one thing I do know is that nobody hurts my angel and gets away with it.


	6. They Just Won't Leave Her Alone

The timid chirping of a cheerful blue jay gently lifts me out of my slumber. The warmth from the sunlight that slowly seeps into the dormitory rests upon my face and brings heat to the tip of my frigid nose. I smile at the security and I sit upwards, realizing that I am waking up in not my own bed, but Jeremie's. His is so much comfier than mine. I must have fallen asleep after I invited myself to go with him to research the Hermitage some more. I don't want to leave the warmth and luxury of his bundle of pillows and blankets, but the clock next to me reads 7:00 and it's time to get ready for school. I peer over the edge of the bed and see Jeremie curled up on his floor. That can't be very comfortable, but how sweet of him to let me have the solace of his cozy bed. I poke his shoulder.

"Jeremie…" I sing. "Oh, Jeremie…"

"Mmph... Aelita…" he mutters under his breath. He must be dreaming of me. I throw the pillow at him.

"Jeremie!"

"AHHHH IT'S A XANA ATTACK! XANA'S ATTACKING!" Flustered, he jumps off of the ground and throws himself against is dresser, staring at me with fearful eyes as his chest rapidly rises and sinks from his frantic breathing. After a few seconds, he relaxes and breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, good morning Aelita. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, but I'm guessing you didn't." I tease.

"No, I actually… I slept really well." A slight blush creeps upon the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones. I was right in assuming I was in his dreams. After he reaches down to the ground and puts on his eyeglasses, he frowns slightly as he looks at me. Feeling ashamed, I stare at the covers and twiddle my thumbs. I just wish everyone would stop asking. He doesn't even say anything, probably knowing what my answer is going to be. He simply leaves the room, leaving me alone. Did I offend him? Have I done something wrong? Is he angry with me? I don't want Jeremie angry with me. He's really mean when he's angry. I drag myself back to my room to get ready for the day.

Getting to class is a challenge. Everyone troops around the edges of the halls, leaving me exposed in the crowd as if they're making room for the red carpet celebrity. I'm definitely not being treated as a celebrity, though. Their whispers are cold and harsh; little snickers and giggles escaping from their mouth as their glares meet mine. Faces and bodies are all blurred together as they huddle around and gawk at me. All I hear are the voices. The vast ocean of rumors.

"Dude, did you see Aelita?"

"Did you see those marks on her neck?"

"Looks like Jeremie finally got some nerve."

I cover my ears, trying to block everything out as I walk to class. I take my seat next to Jeremie in my morning History class, and immediately stare at the pages of my book. Jeremie doesn't even look at me. I must have really made him angry. Maybe he's giving up on trying because of how difficult I'm being.

"_Excuse me, Aelita Stones? Or should I say…. Aelita Schaeffer."_

"_What? No, my last name is Stones."_

"_You know, it's not safe for a young girl like yourself to walk around at night alone."_

"_I'm… I'm fine."_

"_I've had my eye on you and your friends for a while now."_

"_What?"_

"_I've got some questions for you Ms. Schaeffer, and you're going to oblige to my requests unless you want to pay a hefty price."_

A paper ball is thrown at the back of my neck. I frown before turning around to pick it up. I unfold the bundle of paper in front of me and attempt to read the words that are scribbled amongst the creases and wrinkles of the crumpled sheet.

"So I guess Mr. Einstein finally got some, huh?" it reads. Got some? Some what? I turn around my chair to see Sissy snickering maniacally. As soon as she sees that I'm looking at her, she glares at me and then whispers something in Nicholas' ear. He laughs. She hits him in the shoulder for laughing so loudly and obviously.

"What did it say?" Jeremie leans next to me and peers at the note. I slide it closer to his side of the table so he can get a better look. Upon reading it, his face turns a brighter red than I've ever seen. I had no idea such a shade even existed. He turn turns around and fumes at Sissy. Now I don't know if the red is from embarrassment or from rage. Maybe both.

Another note. I hear the wrinkled paper scuttle across the floor and tap against my ankle. Irritated, thinking it's another prank from Sissy, I pick up the ball and unroll it. It's not Sissy's handwriting.

"Aelita… what's going on?" the sheet states. I turn to the table behind me and see both Odd and Ulrich scrutinizing upon me with troubled looks. Ulrich must have been the one who transcribed the note, the script suits him. I smile.

"Nothing," I reassure, rolling up the wad of paper to end the conversation. They don't believe me, of course. This is really annoying. The bell rings. Wow, that was quick. My classes have really been flying by lately, but that's perfectly okay with me. I gather my books and head out the door, but I'm quickly stopped by the teacher.

"Aelita?"

"Yes?" I say, turning around to face her.

"May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Um… sure." I look over at my friends. They nod at me, which tells me that they'll stand outside the door and wait for me before walking off to their next class.

"Aelita… are you alright?" I rub my hands against my neck, attempting to slyly hide the marks… but all that does is show off the ones on my wrist. Right now, I really wish I had longer hair. "Are you… having troubles at home?"

"No," I say. "Everything is fine." She folds her arms and raises an eyebrow at me.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Positive." I smile at her and readjust my grip on the bundle of books in my arms. "I've got to go to my next class now."

"What did the teacher want?" Ulrich curiously inquires as I shut the classroom door behind me and meet my friends by the staircase.

"She just wanted to make sure I was okay."

"Well… are you?

"Yes, I'm fine! Would you just stop asking? If something was wrong I'd tell you! Ugh!" I snap at him and furiously charge down the hallway. I am so tired of constantly being pestered everywhere I go. I didn't ask for this. It's not like I'm just looking for attention. This isn't fair. I feel very angry. My body is literally shaking with wrath. I hate feeling angry, I hate it. I kick the closest thing near my feet, which happens to be a vent against the tiled wall of the school. My boot clashes against the metal and it rattles throughout the now empty hallway.

"Aelita?"

"WHAT?!" I scream, thinking it's Ulrich or Odd back again to harass me. When I turn around, though, I'm met with a slightly shaken woman with fair skin and midnight hair. "Oh, Yumi."

"What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing, I'm just in a bad mood."

"Obviously… come on." She walks up to me and puts her arm around my shoulder. I brush it off.

"I need to get to class."

"You don't really seem like you're in too much of a hurry. I want to talk to you."

"Well _I _don't want to talk to _you_!" I push her away from me and run down the hallway as quickly as I can. I don't bother looking back. I don't care. I just want everyone to go away. I wish I could disappear. I don't even want to go to my next class. I'll just hide myself away inside my room. I'll lock the door and shut away the world. At least then I can be left alone.

I slam my door behind me, throwing my books onto the carpet and watching the pages tear as they sloppily scatter across my floor. I plunge face first into my pillow and start sobbing heavily. I'm not even sure why there are tears flowing from my eyes, but in a way it feels nice. It feels like a long overdue release. But the harder I cry, the harder my wounds throb. My entire body burns and stings, and now that the bruises have finally shown up I can't even walk to class without people asking questions. It's only been a week but I feel like I'm going crazy. I don't know how much longer I can keep this inside, but I'm so scared of what would happen to my friends if I spilled my secret. It would be selfish of me to tell.

"_Daddy, the men in black are here!" _Here comes that stupid little girl. What the hell do you want?

"_I know. Come this way, Aelita."_

"GO AWAY!" I scream, flinging my pillow across the room as hard as I can. "I DON'T HAVE A FATHER SO LEAVE ME ALONE!" There is a knocking on my door. People really just don't know when to leave someone alone, do they?

"Who is it," I coldly ask, pouting on my bed with my arms folded.

"It's me," Yumi mumbles through the other side of the door. I sigh. More interrogation.

"Fine. Come in." I stare at the window as I hear the door creak open, followed by the heavy footsteps from the thick soles of her boots.

"Aelita…"

"What do you want?" I snap my head towards her. She has a black pouch in her hand. Yumi walks over to my vanity and empties the contents onto the counter. Little black tubes roll around in front of the mirror. She turns towards me.

"You can't exactly go to school looking like that. Come here," she orders as she starts patting at some sort of cream colored substance in her palm. I cautiously slog myself out of my bed and walk over to her, curiously gazing at what she's strewn across my dresser.

"What is that?" I ask as she starts brushing something across my face.

"Foundation. It'll cover up your bruises." We both stand in silence for a moment as she coats the powder on my face and neck. I cough as the dust enters my nostril. I don't like how this make-up feels on my skin, but Yumi's right; I can't go to school like this. The little compact that contains the concealer clicks shut, and she smiles at me. "There. All done."

I gaze upon my wrist and look at myself in the mirror. You can hardly tell the marks are there anymore. Good as new. My reflection in the mirror is suddenly replaced by the same little girl I keep seeing, and she giggles at me before disappearing. I take a step back, startled.

"Are you okay, Aelita?" Yumi asks as I bump right into her.

"Yumi… you're not supposed to break a promise, right?"

"Well, generally speaking, no. But… everyone does at some point."

Everyone does? Maybe that means it wouldn't be so bad of me to tell, after all. I'm supposed to adjust to life on Earth and make sure I can fit in as to avoid causing suspicion among others. If everyone breaks a promise at some point, then that means it would only be normal and natural for me to break a promise, as well. So really, I would be doing my friends a _favor_ by telling them… because if I break a promise, it makes me more human. If I'm more human, there's a lower risk of someone finding out about Lyoko and the supercomputer.

"_Why not tell me about the little toy in that factory you and your friends like to play with?"_

But then again… somebody already knows.


	7. Meaningless

Meaningless.

Without meaning.

Everything is meaningless. My life, my homework, my friends… meaningless. Myself. I am meaningless.

I feel as if something sacred and precious has been stolen from me. Ripped straight out of my body. My soul captured inside a rusty bird cage and stowed away in a dark cavern, forever solemn and… meaningless. The ultimate theft.

Why should I go to school? What's the point? I already know everything anyways. I'm just an artificial being of utmost intelligence. I couldn't get any smarter. Book smarts, that is, but the truth is I'm dumber than Sissy. Perhaps I wouldn't have been robbed if I were smarter. More adjusted to Earth. Less Naive. Less meaningless.

The biggest question I continue to ask myself is… am I really just a mere virtual being? Or… am I human?

If I weren't human… could what have happened to me… really happened? I've certainly got human anatomy. And the parts work, too. I'm not a malfunctioning robot. I've either been craft fully put together, or… they were already there in the first place. Because I'm a human.

Why should I even get out of bed in the morning? Why do I need to sleep, if I'm not human? Because I _am _human. Why do I need to use the restroom? Because I _am _human.

Why was he able to hurt me like that? Because my body is like every other human girl. Because I'm human.

A meaningless human.

My own life is meaningless. I have no mother, no father, no brothers and sisters. I have nothing. I _am _nothing. Meaningless.

Without meaning.

What is this emotion? I don't feel anything at all. Emotions are feelings. Can I feel something that is nothing? Is nothing an emotion?

I feel numb. The numbness is better than the pain, though. I don't feel like eating, like breathing, like talking… nothing.

"Aelita?"

I don't even feel like listening to Jeremie. Jeremie is meaningless. He only liked me when I was inside the supercomputer. Because then… I wasn't meaningless. Or was I? A pathetic damsel in distress.

"Aelita… are you in there?"

In where? I don't know where I am. Where am I? Am I even still alive? I honestly wish I wasn't. I feel as if part of me died the other night, and now all that's left is an empty shell of what I once was. My own life was stolen from me. If that's not theft, I don't know what is.

"Aelita, I need to talk to you! It's urgent!"

What could be more urgent than the fact I'm laying here on my bed, dying? Or am I already dead? You can't die, if you're already dead. Can't leave when you're already gone.

The door creaks open oh so slowly and gently. I can hear it, but I don't look. What am I even looking at? My ceiling. The ceiling has more meaning than I do.

"Aelita… what's wrong?"

I feel one miniscule drop of water squeeze out of the depths of my sorrowing eyes. It travels down my face and tickles my cheeks. My pale, ghostly cheeks. Once pink and thriving, but now cold and lifeless. I've got no color. What is pink? I don't like the color pink.

I feel a hand brush the tear away. I want to swipe at it, but I can't bring myself to move. I want to disappear. I want the pain to stop. I can feel it starting to bleed again. It's warm, yet cool at the same time. It stings. I can't even bring myself to wince at the pain. I don't want to move, to breathe, to even live. I just want to _die._

But I'm already dead.

"Aelita… please… tell me what's going on."

I turn my head. I feel my own neck creaking from my sluggish movements. My gaze does not even meet his; I just stare at the perfectly etched threading of his blue turtle-neck sweater. I clear my throat as my crackled statement squeezes out of the hoarseness of my dry, swollen throat.

"I've been robbed."


	8. The Blinking Game

"Robbed? What does she mean, robbed?"

"I don't know," Jeremie says to Yumi as he turns towards my pathetic, lifeless body thrown across my bed. My limbs sluggishly dangle off of the sides. I wish Kiwi were here to just run by and bite them off. "She hasn't said a word to me since. I can't get her to talk."

"What is going on with her…" Odd whispers as he perches his scrawny body against the thick, wooden trim of the door frame. I hate being stared at, and now all of my friends are doing it. Staring hurts. I don't like eye-contact. He made eye-contact with me the entire night, and now whenever I look at someone as harmless as Jeremie I think of his fuming, pitch black irises, his eyes glossed over with hatred and… evil. I feel he can do worse than XANA. Footsteps drag across the pink carpet of my bedroom, and the sound of Ulrich's voice treads across my earlobes.

"Aelita? What was stolen from you?" He turns his head towards the three that huddle around my door, eagerly waiting for my response. They shouldn't hold their breath. I don't feel like talking. Even if I wanted to tell, I just don't want to speak any words. Talking hurts, too. My throat is sore. "Aelita? Why won't you talk?"

I simply blink in response. I'd never realized how ugly my ceiling was before. It's not white… it's not even cream, or eggshell. It's almost... yellow. How displeasing to the eye. It completely clashes with the vibrancy of my rose colored carpet. I hear Ulrich sigh and walk back to the group. I glance over, watching him shake his head in disappointment through my peripheral vision. Am I a disappointment? If I wasn't, maybe this wouldn't have happened to me.

"Let me try!" Odd skips over to my bed. He thinks his sense of humor will get me to open my mouth, but I'm afraid he is mistaken. A million dollars couldn't get me to talk. "Come on princess," he softly coos by my ear. "Tell us what's going on."

I blink again. The ceiling is coated with a million tiny ridges. Almost as if I'm looking at a mountain scape.

"All she's doing is blinking." He turns to the others and shrugs.

"Do you think she's trying to communicate with us that way?"

"Ulrich, that's a fantastic idea!" Yumi runs up to me and kneels down by my bedside. She takes my hand into hers, but I quickly snatch palm away. I don't want to be touched. "Aelita, will you answer our questions by blinking?"

No.

"Blink once for yes, and twice for no, okay?"

I blink. Twice. No. Yumi sighs intensly.

"Well, that was short lived," Odd pipes in from the corner.

"Cut the jokes, Odd," Ulrich snaps. Yumi wipes away the beads of sweat that form on her temples from the frustration. I feel so guilty for putting my friends through this, really I do.

"Aelita… you promised you couldn't tell us what happened. But, if you communicate to us without speaking… really, it's not you telling us. It's us making inferences off of your actions… and that wouldn't be _your _fault if we guess, would it?"

Well, no. I suppose not. I blink twice. No. No, it wouldn't be.

Yumi heaves a sigh of relief and turns towards the others, a smile creeping upon her flustered face.

"Aelita… do you know the person that did this to you?"

Two blinks. I've not the slightest clue.

"She said no." Yumi turns towards the boys. Ulrich brushes his chin in contemplation.

"So it was a complete stranger, then," he ponders.

"Not necessarily." Jeremie pitches in with his vast storage of knowledge.

"Aelita, does this person know _you_?"

"_Excuse me, Aelita Stones? Or should I say… Aelita Schaeffer."_

The voice echoes inside my head again and I look away from Yumi, my entire body becoming tense. My muscles begin to twitch and spasm. I turn back towards her to painfully give my response. One blink.

"She said yes… So she doesn't know who the person is, but they know her."

"That's unnerving." Jeremie cautiously mutters as he stuffs his hands into his pockets. They all fuss and whisper in the corner as Yumi continues to interrogate me. I feel like I'm part of a crime scene or something.

"Aelita, do you know exactly what happened to you?"

"_H-hey! Get off of me! GET! OFF!"_

No. I don't know. But I do know it hurt a lot. Two blinks.

"She doesn't know."

"What do you mean she doesn't know?" Jeremie pushes his way past Ulrich and Odd and thuds over to my bed. "Aelita, don't play this game! You very well know what happened!"

I don't even know why, but the next thing I know I'm curled up in a ball, tears pouring down my cheeks.

"Way to go, Jeremie."

"Great!"

"What did I do? She wasn't always this sensitive!"

"I think you should go."

The door slams as Jeremie is booted out of my room. Yumi rubs my back as I continue to sob, and Ulrich and Odd merely stand and watch.

"It's okay, Aelita," she says, trying to console me. "I don't know what happened, and I can't make you tell. But whatever it is, it's gonna be okay."

Within a matter of minutes after Jeremie leaves, he is back at the door with a frantic knocking. "I hate to break up your little interrogation session, but we gotta go!" he screams. "XANA is attacking!"

"But… but Aelita is in no position to fight!" Yumi cries, trying to defend me.

"Well we gotta do something," Ulrich runs out the door followed by Odd. Jeremie stands in the doorway and hurtfully glares at Yumi and me, tapping his foot in impatience.

"Well? Are you coming?" He sarcastically snaps. I sigh and lift myself out of bed.

"Are you okay, Aelita?" Yumi whispers into my ear. I appreciate how kind she's being to me, compared to the others. Maybe she understands better because she's a female, like I am. I'd rather tell her than anyone else. I nod at her, and we run out the door and follow the rest to the sewers.

Jeremie starts the virtualization process, sending us to Lyoko one-by-one. First Ulrich, then Odd, then Yumi, and now it's my turn. As I'm lifted up inside the scanner, though, I can hear him muttering something in confusion over the intercom. Something must have happened during the virtualization process, and he seems unnerved by it. I hope everything is alright. I don't need anything else on my plate.

I am dropped down onto the blistering passages of the Desert Sector. I want to ask Jeremie what happened, but at the same time, I don't feel like talking to him.

"What is _that?!"_

I look around me, and quickly jump back in fear as I see some sort of unfamiliar orb floating by my side. It is red and perfectly symmetrical, a white aura surrounding it.

"It's red, so that usually means XANA!" Odd prances towards the glowing orb and begins violently shooting his laser arrows at it. As the orb is hit, though I am as well. Electrical sparks of pain that I can't actually feel surge throughout my virtual form.

"Stop!" Jeremie radios. "Something happened during the transfer."

"What?" Yumi asks.

"I'm not sure, but there is a warning message on my screen. It looks as if… something is _inside _Aelita!"

"What? Inside Aelita?! What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know; it has to be a bug. I'll work it out later, but for now, head North Northeast for the tower!"

Something is… _inside _me? I rub my hands across my abdomen at the unsettling thought of something residing inside my own body. What? A parasite? Do I have a parasite in me? I read about parasites in my science class, and they seem like such awful, horrible creatures. Did… did _he _give me this parasite? Perhaps that's why my stomach has been hurting a lot lately.

"Aelita, are you coming?!"

I stop thinking about parasites long enough to see that Odd, Yumi and Ulrich are already far ahead of me. As I start running, though, I see the mysterious orb is following me. What _is_ this thing?!

"Jeremie, the orb is following Aelita!" Ulrich points out as he looks behind me on his overbike. He pulls over and allows me to hop on, the little orb hovering along with us.

"I know. It's linked to her! If that orb gets hit then Aelita loses life points!"

"But what is it?"

"That I'm not sure of. It must be from the bug, it may be a floating link of human DNA from a flaw in the transfer procedure."

"Whatever you say, Einstein. Look, there's the tower!"

There's the tower, alright. Basked in the brilliant glow of that signature, vibrant red. It scares me almost to look at it, and I'm not sure why. XANA's welcoming committee quickly arrives to give us a not so pleasant hello. Three Kankrelats and a Megatank. Easy, but challenging at the same time.

"I'll get the Megatank," Odd confidently offers as he swooshes past us on his overboard.

"And I've got the Kankrelats," Yumi says. "Go for it, Aelita!"

I hop off of the overbike and begin walking towards the tower. I hear the shooting of Odd's lasers and the swiftness of Yumi's fans in the distance, but it merely echoes underneath my collection of thoughts. I stand in the middle of the sector and stare at the tower, wondering why I should go inside.

"XANA has launched his attack on Earth!" Jeremie cries through the intercom, his pleas blending into the other words that become lost in the sea of my mind. "He's taken control of a gasoline truck and he's driving it straight to the power plant! If XANA gets to that plant, the truck is going to conduct so much electricity that it will overheat and explode! Who knows how much of the city XANA can take out with that!"

"We're on it, Jeremie," Ulrich says as draws his swords towards the Kankrelats. "Aelita, what are you doing? AELITA!"

I turn around and look at him.

"Aelita, go on! What are you waiting for?"

One of the Kankrelats begins shooting at the little ball that huddles around me. It seems that XANA's attention has been diverted to this little circle. The laser hits the orb, and I fall to the ground.

"Aelita, you are losing too many life points!" Jeremie shouts over the intercom, but I don't listen. Let him take my life points. "Aelita!" He grows desperate. "Aelita, GO!"

I let the Kankrelat hit me again. Just hurry up, already.

"AELITA, HURRY UP!" Yumi cries as the last of her life points are washed away by the Megatank's powerful blow. I hear Jeremie's hysterical pleas over the intercom as the truck rapidly makes it's way towards the power plant. I don't care. Why should I deactivate that tower? What's the point?

I lie on the ground and stare at the digital sky as the sounds of crying, shouting, and lasers surround my ears.

"AELITA! AELITA, HURRY UP!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!"

"AELITAAAAAA!"

I just lie and wait.


	9. Here

The virtual reality spins around me as I slowly slip out of consciousness. Can I do that? Can I become unconscious on Lyoko? I miss Earth already. There's no air for me to breathe, no colors for me to see, no heat for me to feel. But, at the same time… there's also no pain. No throbbing, no bleeding, no aching, no burning. Which do I like better? I could let XANA destroy me right now, and be forever trapped in Lyoko. Forever free of pain. But then I would also be free of love, of nurture and care and friendship. Do I really want that? I hear the shrill cries of the bubbly spike haired cat as he disintegrates into a billion virtual blocks.

"Aelita, behind you!"

A sickening, shrill gurgle creeps behind me and I feel the slimy tentacles brush around my arms. The Scyphozoa. I could let XANA steal my memory… then I would be able to live without the constant reminders of what happened. I wouldn't have to remember anymore. The weak little Kankrelat shoots his laser at the orb that circles around me one last time… and then scuttles away.

XANA won't let me die. He needs me as much as the other's do. So I guess I've got no choice, then. Time to stop being so selfish, Aelita. I throw myself off of the ground and run inside the tower, completing my usual ritual. I hear Jeremie heave a massive sigh of relief before snapping at me over the intercom for taking so long. I was just seconds away from letting the entire world be destroyed for my own selfish desires… and yet, I'm not fazed in the least. I feel nothing at all. What is wrong with me?

"Aelita, what was that all about?" I hear as I tumble out of the scanner, holding my hurting head. Jeremie catches me as I fall forwards, but the look in his eyes is that of disappointment and perhaps even resentment. I feel aggression from him, compared to the usual contentment that I receive. I also feel something warm running down my leg, and my stomach starts aching. The pain is dull and excruciating, and I lean forward as I grapple my arms around my pulsating abdomen.

Yumi runs towards me and puts her arms on my shoulders, and I press my hand against the scanner to give myself support so that I may stand while I feel my body ripping into pieces. "Aelita, you're bleeding again," she claims, her voice rippling with apprehension.

"Aelita, do you think maybe you should go to a hospital?" Odd calmly suggests, but I am not fooled by his polite nature. I can sense him freaking out internally. A hospital? Absolutely not. They'll find out, and then everyone will know.

"No." I snap. The first words I've spoken for the entire day. Those around me appear shocked that I have finally broken my vow of silence, but I won't play my little game any longer. I can't go to any place of authority.

"Aelita, you're bleeding a lot."

"I'm fine." My tone is blunt and emotionless, but I must make myself clear. "Really."

"Aelita, you're not fine," Ulrich steps forward in front of Odd and Jeremie. "You almost let yourself, your friends, and all of Earth die back there. Something is wrong, something is very, _very _wrong. And you won't get rid of us until you tell us what's going on with you. You're not yourself anymore, Aelita."

"Ulrich is right," Odd agrees. "This past week and a half you've just been totally… out of it. We're worried about you, Princess."

"_Aelita." _I look to my left, and see the old man from my dreams perched against one of the empty scanners. "_My darling Aelita… you must tell them." _

"Aelita? What are you staring at?" Yumi leans towards the direction my eyes are fixed upon, but of course she sees nothing.

"Nothing." Ulrich walks over to me and gently tilts my chin upwards, staring directly into my eyes with a warming look of friendship and comfort. Better than the look Jeremie is giving me.

"Aelita…. Why won't you talk to us? We're your friends."

I look into Ulrich's eyes for a bit, gaze at all of my friends, and then look back to the man that I can only assume is the subconsciously produced image of the father I had at some point. "To protect you," I confirm. My mind flashes back to the night of torture.

"_Since you decided to fool around, you've earned your punishment. I know who your friends are, and I know where each of them live, and where they spend their free time. I'll find a way to get the information I desire. But for now… you're not going to tell a soul, do you understand?" _His voice is harsh, and demanding, injecting fear into my very spine.

"_I promise." _I tearfully mutter across my dry, trembling lips.

"_A promise is a promise, Ms. Schaeffer. I'll see to it your friends suffer a fate worse than you just did if I find out you've opened your mouth."_

"A promise is a promise," I say to Ulrich.

I spend all of next morning throwing up. Thankfully, it is a Sunday, and I don't need to worry about missing class and being asked more questions. Everyone else is asleep this early morning while I'm spewing my guts out, which gives me the privacy I desire when running back and forth from my bed to the toilet down the hall. Honestly, I may as well just try and sleep at the bathroom at this point.

I think about yesterday and the trip to Lyoko. I think about how I put everyone's lives at stake because I wanted to be a little brat and play the game of silence. More importantly though, I think of the strange red orb that so cautiously floated around my body as if it were protecting me. Although in a way, it felt as if _I _was supposed to protect _it. _As if it clung so tightly to me because it was scared, and desired my attention. I think about how for some reason, shooting at the orb takes away my own life points, as if it was a part of me. As if the orb is inside of me. Jeremie said that, according to the virtualization process, something inside of me had transferred to Lyoko and was produced into the virtual world as the orbiting red circle. He thinks the program bugged up and stripped some of my human DNA from me during the transfer. It makes sense, I suppose.

Then I start thinking about parasites. Nasty, creepy, crawly parasites. Disgusting things that thrive inside their hosts and do nothing but steal. Selfish little creatures that suck the very life out of you. My stomach churns at the thought, and I find myself once again leaning over the toilet. I hate throwing up. Now is a time when I'm actually thankful to have short hair. Once I'm back in my room, I'm suddenly overwhelmed with a discomforting feeling of insecurity and fear. As if someone is watching me. I look all around my room, but of course, nothing is in sight. When I look out the window though… I see a man, semi hiding behind the tree, peeking into my window. Receding hairline, thick sunglasses, a microphone pinned to his suit… dressed in all black, maintaining a professional stance. Shoes that shine brighter than the sunlight that bounces off of the glass. As quickly as I see him, he sneaks behind the tree and disappears. It's as if he vanished right into thin air. I don't know where he went, or where he managed such a trick, but now my entire body tingles with the sensation of terror.

He _is _watching me.

"Aelita?" I hear a tender tapping against my door and I yip slightly, startled by the sudden noise. The door opens and I am met with the sight of the skinny, blonde boy who lashed out at me the night prior.

"Hi, Jeremie." I give a pathetic attempt to be friendly.

"I wanted to talk to you about something. About what I originally came to talk to you about yesterday."

"Okay," I say, looking back at the window once more before I sit down on my bed and gaze up at him. I don't feel like listening to his incessant babbling, to be honest. He can tell that by looking at me, too.

"Well, I did some research on the Hermitage."

"And?" I lean forward and settle my chin on my knuckles, attempting to give the impression that I'm listening intently.

"Well, I found a name. Franz Hopper."

My eyes widen as he mentions the name. It sounds so familiar. Franz Hopper?

"_Daddy, look at my giant snowball!"_

"_Well done, my angel!"_

"Franz Hopper?" I repeat. It sounds completely natural to say his name. This man must be the one in my dreams.

"Yes. And, as it turns out, he was the owner of the Hermitage. Even more interesting, he used to be a teacher right here at Kadic Academy!"

"What happened to him?"

"Dunno. He disappeared one day."

"Do you think he had something to do with the supercomputer?" I ask. My attention has been caught. Perhaps this is the key to learning more about my past.

"I wouldn't doubt it; after all, his house had a link to the sewers."

"_Daddy, the men in black are here!" _

"_I know. Come this way, quickly."_

"Jeremie…" I stare off into space as the images of my younger self dashing through the massive, never-ending sewers flash through my head. The man, who I now know is Franz Hopper, guides me by his hand as he takes me to the factory for the first time.

"What?"

"I think Franz Hopper is the man I've been seeing in my dreams."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know. I just… I just know."

"Aelita…" Jeremie sighs and looks down at his feet, kicking them against the edge of my bed. "I want to apologize for yesterday. I'm sorry I got angry at you. I may not know what happened, but, I'm sure it wasn't your fault. I can't possibly get mad at you for it, whatever it may be. Will you forgive me?"

"Yes. Thank you for apologizing." Look at that face. I can't stay mad at that. He's so cute. I really wish I could tell him. But I'm scared of what may happen to him. "Jeremie?"

"Yes, Aelita?"

I look down at my palms as I twiddle my fingers together. "I'm scared." He looks at me nervously, wondering what I'm hiding.

"Why?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that… that someone is watching you?" I stop playing with my thumbs and look back up at him. Wow, he's nervous.

"Why do you feel that way?" A blur of blackness wizzes past in the corner of my eye. I look to my door, wide open, but there is nothing there. Jeremie notices that I'm staring at my door, and he raises his eyebrows at me in curiosity. "What are you looking at, Aelita?"

"I don't feel safe," I say to him without turning my head. I feel very, very uncomfortable. Jeremie gets off of my bed and walks to my door. "No, don't!" I plea, fearing that the man will latch out and grab him at any moment. He steps into the hallway and looks around, checking each direction twice. Then he looks back at me and smiles reassuringly.

"There's nothing there, Aelita."

"Are… are you sure?" I start chewing on my fingernails, and a chill runs up my spine. Jeremie walks out of my sight, walks back to the door, walks down the other side of the hallway, and then meets back at the doorframe.

"Positive." He smiles and closes the door, re-joining me on my bed. "Aelita, why do you feel like you're being watched? Are you in danger?"

I can't lie anymore. "I think so."

Jeremie's eyes widen at my response and they become glazed over with distress. The color flushes from his face and he takes my shaking hands into his. "'Lita… please, if you're in danger in any way, you must tell me. I really, really care about you Aelita. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I can't tell you… he'll hear you…"

Jeremie looks around my room, wondering who I could be referring to. He presses his index finger against his lips, leans in by my ears, and whispers. "Okay, so then don't speak. Just nod your head accordingly. I'll be quiet. Will that work?" He smiles at me, desperate to figure out what's going on. I nod, but glance back at the window. Jeremie gets up and closes the blinds. My heart pounds inside my chest. I have such a horrible feeling about this, but I don't want to lie anymore.

"Aelita…" Jeremie gently speaks in the lowest voice he possibly can while still being audible. "This person… told you that you couldn't tell what happened, right?"

I nod my head slightly, my pupils darting back and forth to make sure there is no one in my room.

"Did he say something bad would happen if you told?"

I nod, my pupils fixed on Jeremie this time.

"Did he threaten you?"

I shake my head no.

"Did he threaten… me? Or the others?"

I nod. Jeremie sits back slightly, disheveled by the fact this person knows who he is.

"So… this person knows who you and I and the rest of us all are?"

I nod.

"Does he know about… the factory?"

Now I'm getting _really _uncomfortable. Jeremie is really digging deep, here. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, though. I stare at him for a moment, but finally, nod my head to confirm.

"The supercomputer? Lyoko? XANA?!" He starts raising his voice and my heart skips a beat. I lean forward and press my finger against his lips.

"Shhh," I order, before nodding my head. Jeremie scratches his head in disbelief and also fear.

"This is bad. This is very, very bad."

I sit cross legged on my bed and cover myself with the blanket rolled up in the corner. The atmosphere has become frightening, tense, and cold… and I don't like it.

"What are we going to do?" He asks, becoming leery and anxious.

I shrug. Jeremie looks at me and fixes his gaze upon the bruises that rest around my neck.

"Is this person a girl?"

I shake my head.

"So… this person… is a he."

I nod.

"I was afraid of that."

I bring the blanket up past my neck and cover my mouth and nose. My hot breath pressed against the comforter heats it up, and makes it soothing to hold against my frigid face.

"Did he put those marks there?"

Oh no. He went there. I slowly nod my head against the blanket. My eyes are starting to water, and Jeremie is growing more and more edgy with each question.

"Did he… put marks… anywhere else?"

There are some on my thighs and my ribs. I nod.

"This man… he hurt you?"

The water that builds up in my tear ducts escapes the dam of my eyelids, gently trickling down my pale cheeks. I nod.

"Aelita… where did he hurt you?"

I close my eyes and let the drops begin to consistently flow. Jeremie leans closer towards me and brushes his thumb against my face, wiping away the tears that inhabit my cheeks.

"You cannot tell anyone. Do you understand?" I mumble through my shaking voice.

"Yes."

"This doesn't leave this room, Jeremie. This can _not _leave this room. No matter how badly you want to, you can't tell. You _can't_, Jeremie."

"I promise, 'Lita." The firm pressed line of his tense lips slowly curls into a smile. I stare at him, debating whether or not I should do this, but… I trust him. "Show me where he hurt you," he softly requests.

And so I oblige. I slowly drag the blanket off of my face, down my chest, and past my torso before stopping and letting it sit on my lap. I look at Jeremie to see his eyes intensely following the pattern of the comforter. I clutch the ends of the blanket and pull it off of my lap, pushing it onto the bed. He's still watching, and he looks almost confused, as if he doesn't quite understand what I'm getting at. I grab onto the ends of my night shirt and carefully begin to roll it upwards, revealing my underwear. Jeremie starts to blush a bit, and I'm probably blushing too. But what's more, I feel ashamed. I feel dirty.

I'm still sitting cross legged, and so the wounded area is exposed. I move my hand downwards and point to the zone directly between my legs.

"Here."

Never in my short life have I seen the color drain from someone's face so quickly. Never have I seen someone go from neutral to absolute devastation within a millisecond.


	10. Theft

**This chapter is what makes the story rated M. Just letting you all know before you start reading; however, if you skip this chapter, you miss crucial parts of the plot. **

Aelita loved night time. The way everything sounded and smelled was so much different, so much more peaceful. Although Jeremie had warned her countless times of the dangers that lurked around every midnight corner, begging her to never wander out by her lonesome, her curious self never heeded any attention to his desperate words.

Jeremie had graciously led Aelita back to her dorm that night after they had gone for a walk through the forest together. The rustling of soft grass beneath her feet tickled her ankles, and she loved frolicking through patches of flowers and playing hide-and-seek with him in the bushes. On this particular night, however, something burning deep inside Aelita was begging for her to run outside and examine more of Earth's wonders. As she watched him trot down the hall and exit away into his room, she quickly snuck out of her dormitory and let the door slowly fall shut, the lock clicking into place. She tip-toed down the halls and before long was sneakily running across the hard cobblestone paths of Kadic's campus. Aelita wanted to know more about what the evening was like, and the inquisition flaring inside of her wasn't going to let her sleep tonight before she satisfied her desires.

The moon was full tonight, the glowing orb hovering above in the gleaming midnight sky. There wasn't a single cloud in sight, allowing each and every dazzling yellow speck to vibrantly rest in the rich, deep blue hue that cast above Aelita's head. A breeze gently blew across her, rustling her glorious pink strands against her cheeks and drumming against her ears. The frigid gust of air nipped at her nose and she wrinkled in response, rubbing her hands against her face to produce warmth. She listened in depth as the sound of her heels clicked against the cold concrete of the sidewalks that outlined the streets. Jeremie hadn't taken her to see much of town yet, and what a better time to observe such wonders than at night, when everything else was already so much more beautiful.

Aelita couldn't understand why sometimes people feared the night and acted as if things were so dangerous. To her, there was not a single ounce of danger in sight. How could evil lurk in such beauty? Oh, to be so young and naïve. When the pinkette approached Jeremie with such a question, he always replied the same. _"Things are not always as they seem, Aelita."_

And tonight, although the innocent girl had yet to realize it, things were not exactly as they seemed.

Most shops were closed, and she was completely alone. She stuffed her chilly hands in the warm depths of her pockets, burrowing deep to surround her naked fingers with the fuzzy cloth that rested inside her jumper. Occasionally, her enquiring eyes observed the neon signs that flashed with such brilliance, delightful and vibrant colors sparking through the window that alerted others the store was still open. She smiled in contentment as her glistening emerald eyes met the sight of a new pleasure around every block. Slender, pink tulips lined some of the windows, adding a little bit of prettiness to seemingly bare brick windowsills. The flowers gently swayed in the breeze, dancing to the rhythm of the wind. Aelita happily removed one of the delicate flowers from it's bed of soil and rock, brushing the petals against her nose and inhaling the decadent perfume of nature. She was happy. Jeremie would be so angry if he knew she was wandering the streets at night alone, but that thought merely huddled in the back of her mind, because for now, she was happy.

As Aelita walked further down the streets, she saw a gap lurking between two buildings, an alley. Most of the shops joined perfectly, intertwining to become one, but for some reason, this one had been separated from the other. What miracles could possibly hide away in the pits of this little hall? Aelita dropped the tulip to the ground and skipped along, exploring the depth between the two structures. A dumpster sat perched against one of the walls. She quickly learned to stray away, as the rotting scent of garbage slid across the wind and made her nose writhe in disgust. Her fingertips brushed against the rough texture of the solid bricks that aligned to create the walls that surrounded her. It scraped at the sensitive tips of her skin, but she almost liked the sensation of a slight scratch.

"Excuse me… Aelita Stones?"

Aelita spun around immediately at the calling of her name. Did someone find out she had snuck out? Was she going to get in trouble? The race of her heart increased, gently patting against her small chest. Her eyes met with the sight of a professional figure towering in front of her. He almost completely blended in with the blackness of the evening. She couldn't even see his face, because he was wearing sunglasses. _Who wears sunglasses at night? That's just ridiculous,_ she thought to herself.

"Or should I say… Aelita Schaeffer." Her name rolled across his tongue as if he achieved some sort of filthy pleasure from speaking it.

Aelita raised an eyebrow at the man, her little voice piping up. "No… my last name is Stones," she confirmed, confused as to why he had called her such a thing. The man, however, seemed none too pleased, feeling as if she was mocking him. He approached her, carefully and slowly, and Aelita for some reason was inclined to cautiously back away. As if out of instinct, almost.

"Why are you backing away from me?" The man's deep voice boomed through the atmosphere of the night. "Are you… afraid of me?"

"No. I'm not afraid," Aelita tried to reassure. The man's serious mouth twitched into a small smirk, and he continued to confront her.

"Well, you're going to be."

At this point, Aelita's heart was rapidly thumping in her chest. She wasn't sure exactly what this feeling was, but the man kept getting closer and closer until Aelita found herself pressed against the cold, sharp wires of a metal fence that blocked off the path behind her. The man stopped only inches away from her. She had nowhere else to go.

"I've been looking for you for a very long time now, little lady. I can't tell you how happy I am to have finally met you."

Aelita's eyes widened and her pupils traced the man up and down. Black suit, black pants, solid black shoes that had been so well cleaned they sparkled underneath the moonlight. Black sunglasses, black tie, all black. Black, black black. There was something in his ear with a little cord that spiraled down into the pocket of his blazer. A microphone? She wondered if the man was some sort of official authority. That thought sent shivers up her spine… Aelita already knew she was in big trouble.

"Who are you?" She asked, her chest rapidly rising and lowering with her frantic breathing.

"You could say I'm a family friend."

_A family friend? But I don't have a family_, Aelita's thoughts raced through her mind. Her fingers wrapped around the gaps that filled the wire of the fence, clutching the metal behind her.

"You've got some very important information that I just _have_ to get my hands on, Ms. Schaeffer. I hope you can understand." The man stood tall and straight, his posture perfectly vertical. His giant hands slowly slid into the never-ending pockets of his fancy, black trousers.

"Uh… what information?"

"Well, let's start with that toy in the factory you and your friends like to play with."

Her heart sank right down into her stomach, and any shade of pink that had flustered onto her face from the cold had washed away completely. Something tightened inside of her abdomen, almost as if there was a collection of little butterflies gently fluttering away inside of her, bouncing along the walls of her belly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The man followed her lie with a chuckle. Something told Aelita he wasn't going to buy it. "Are you sure, Ms. Schaeffer? Are you sure you don't know what I'm talking about?"

She rapidly nodded her head in agreement. The man folded his hands together and smiled at her.

"Alright, perhaps I've got the wrong person. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

He turned around and started to walk away, and Aelita exhaled a huge sigh of relief, letting go of her grasp on the fence and brushing herself off. The feeling of tenseness finally loosened inside of her, and warmth swarmed throughout her.

All of this relaxation quickly disappeared though, as the man swung around and forced her against the brick wall.

His hands were cold and clammy, and Aelita's ribs almost pierced into her lungs as his firm grip pressed against her chest, pinning her against the bricks. The roughness of the blocks scraped against her back, and she no longer liked the feeling of a gentle scratch.

"I'm only joking, of course. I know what you and your friends are up to. I've been watching you for quite some time."

"Put me down! I don't know what you're talking about, so you put me down right now!" He only snickered as her frail limbs kicked endlessly at his thick, muscular legs. To him, it merely felt like raindrops against his skin.

"Do you really want to play this game, Ms. Schaeffer? I'll gladly do the same thing to you that I did to your mother."

"My mother?" Aelita stopped kicking and stared directly at the eyes that hid behind the sunglasses. Again, his mouth curled into a creepy smile. His teeth were crooked and yellow, one of his canines significantly chipped. His breath was hot, smoldering even, and brushed against her neck. She cringed at the unpleasant feeling.

"It was quite some time ago, perhaps you've forgotten what happened. What's the matter, Ms. Schaeffer? You don't remember me?"

"I've never seen you in my life!" Aelita gritted through her teeth as she struggled to break free from his painful grip.

"My feelings are hurt; I can't believe you don't remember who I am, Ms. Schaeffer."

Aelita glared at the man who seemed to take such pride in her helplessness. Her brows firmly pressed together and anger began to course through her veins. "What do you want from me?" she snapped.

"I want you to tell me everything right now. Everything you know about the supercomputer and it's contents. I want you to tell me what your father was up to, and where he's hiding."

"I _really _think you've got the wrong person," Aelita tried to pass along through a smile. The man slowly removed his sunglasses and tucked them away in the collar of his shirt. His irises had no color. They were as black as his outfit, as black as the night sky. His eyes fumed with rage, but also desire, almost lustful. He scowled at her. The look in his eyes pierced Aelita like a needle, injecting her with terror. She felt endangered, and as if it were a reflex, threw her foot as hard as she could directly into the man's crotch.

The man lost his grip against Aelita groaned in agony, and the terrified girl took her chance and began to charge out of the alley. Gritting his teeth in pain, and now even angrier than before, he lunged after Aelita and forcefully tugged on the hood of her jacket, pulling her backwards into him.

"HEY!" she screamed, flailing her legs and attempting to wiggle out of his grasp. The devious figure threw her against the wall, tightly seizing her arms to trap her against the bricks. "What are you doing? H-hey! Get off of me! GET! OFF!" She pleaded, kicking fiercely at his legs.

"Tell me everything," he demanded, spit sneaking out of the creases of his teeth and onto Aelita's neck. "Right now. Or I'll make sure you'll regret it." His words were harsh, arduous, and cold. This man was not playing around, and Aelita dreaded that she would suffer a serious consequence if she couldn't provide the answers that she didn't even know.

"I don't have anything to tell you!" The man constricted his clutch firmer around Aelita's arms, pinching her skin beneath his untrimmed fingernails. "STOP IT!" she cried, and spat in his face. The man grunted and turned away, releasing one of Aelita's arms to wipe the droplets onto his sleeve.

"Alright," his raspy voice calmly muttered as his head slowly creaked towards the frustrated young pinkette. "You asked for it." A devious grin spread across his face, and Aelita's stomach tied in knots.

"But I can't tell you what I don't know! I don't have a father! I'm an orphan!"

The man's mischievous smile vaporized. "An… orphan?"

"Uh huh…" Aelita timidly choked in her quivering voice. The man, completely un-amused, gently lifted her off of the wall and onto the ground… before fiercely throwing her back against the sharp ridges of the wall once again. She whined from the shock of the edges scraping against her back, tearing at her clothing.

"You don't want to lie to a man like me, Ms. Schaeffer."

"MY NAME IS STONES! NOT SCHAEFFER! I'M TELLING YOU, YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG-"

Smack.

Her words were cut off from his muscular hand forcefully swiping across her face, throwing her head to the opposite side.

"Don't raise your voice at me," the man softly ordered, brushing his nose against hers. She tightly shut her eyes and cringed as his blazing breath rustled against her lips. The man's hands, rough and callused, began to trail up and down the petite arms that he pinned against the wall. Aelita's fearful eyes followed as he began to explore every square inch of her body. He rubbed his abrasive fingers against her neck, her chest, circling his digits around her belly button, and slowly travelling down to her legs.

Aelita had become very, _very, _uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" Her voice shook.

"Shhh," the agent cooed into her ears, making Aelita's stomach churn. "I'm only giving you what you deserve. You were awfully rude to me. That's only fair, isn't it? You're quite the fighter. Just like your mother."

"H-How do you know my m-mother?" Aelita carefully asked, fearing her nosiness would get her even more hurt. The man looked up at her and simply winked. Aelita felt as if she was going to puke.

"Why don't you let me show you?" He whispered against her neck before squeezing his firm hands against her bottom. Aelita let out a yelp.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

"I will if you let go of me."

"You've got nerve, little lady."

He continued to brush his hands against every surface of her fair skin, his slimy fingers gently strolling against her chest and helping himself to her breasts. Again, Aelita yelped.

"STOP!" Something about his actions told Aelita that this was _not _okay. She squirmed in his grasp and began to flail her little legs, but he paid no attention to her actions or her demands of release. The man grew increasingly impatient, and as he heaved a sigh filled with irritation and intolerance, he grabbed the collar of her shirt and threw her onto the ground. Aelita cried out as her fragile bones slammed against the coarse asphalt of the street. She looked up in terror as the man approached her and placed his oversized foot directly on her chest.

"Please, just let me go," Aelita delicately begged as her panic filled eyes began to well up.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." The man dropped his knees onto the ground and hovered himself over her, his face merely inches from her. His hands began to explore her body again, but this time, less gentle, and more forceful. His pupils dilated as they travelled the nooks and crannies of her fragile frame, and Aelita felt a frigid breeze below as her dress was thrown upwards towards her stomach.

"Stop! Get off of me!" She fidgeted and struggled relentlessly; throwing her fists onto the ground and then pounding against the man's chest, but no matter how strong she was on Lyoko… she was merely a weak, helpless little girl on Earth when put against a man like this. He looked her directly in the eyes, glossed over with lust and evil, as he rubbed against the inside of her thighs and caught his index finger onto the elastic band of her underwear, tearing it straight off.

Aelita didn't know much about her body, or her anatomy, but she knew enough to know that her privacy was being heavily invaded right now. Her heart hastily struck against her petite chest cavity, her abdomen tightening and the butterflies pounding around as if they were caught in a tornado.

"It's such a shame I have to do this to such a pretty little girl."

"Y-you know… you don't… h-have to!" Aelita mumbled through her unsteady voice, hoping to convince him. He only chuckled.

"Oh, but I do. I told you that you would regret keeping your secrets from me."

Pure terror pulsated throughout all of Aelita's body as she heard the jingling of his belt buckle, followed by his heavy black trousers plummeting onto the ground. Go figure, his boxers were also black. The man leaned down close to Aelita's sensitive ears and gently whispered.

"You should have listened to your boyfriend when he told you not to wander in the dark alone."

He was right. He _had _been watching her for a while. Aelita screamed as loudly as she possibly could, hoping someone, _anyone, _would hear and come help her. She kicked at him, threw her fists at him, even spat at him, but nothing stopped him as he lowered himself over her, and slowly slid his boxers down to his knees.

"GET OFF OF ME! HELP!" she exclaimed, throwing herself any direction she could, desperately trying to break free. "LET ME GO! GET OFF!"

Her cries for help became muffled attempts at a scream as his giant hand clasped over her vibrating lips. She threw her fists against his grip over her mouth, trying to get him to let go, but it was no use. There was no winning against this man.

"You need to shut your mouth," he harshly commanded.

Aelita clamped her little teeth down onto his hand as hard as she could. The man yelled in pain and responded by smacking her across the face as tough as he could. She hollered out from the burning sensation in her cheeks.

"Please! Just let me go!" her words of desperation became masked by her now heavy sobs as she forced herself to look away from the grueling, menacing man on top of her.

And then came the worst kind of pain Aelita could have ever imagined.

The man, tired of tugging her along and putting up with her fight, shoved himself inside of her as deeply as he possibly could while pinning her to the ground. Aelita opened her mouth and expelled every amount of air cooped inside her lungs in the form of one, excruciating scream, followed by weeping. He laughed at her pain, only motivating him to go even harder.

"STOOOPPP!" She cried out as hard as she could, trying to push the man off of her. Oh how she wished she were on Lyoko right now. If she could at least use creativity, create a barrier between her and the man. "STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!"

"I know," the man heavily breathed through his yellow grin. Aelita's stomach writhed. He was getting off on her pain.

Each thrust was more forceful than the last. She felt as if her very insides were tearing apart. As if one of the bricks from the walls around her, hard, thick, and rough, was being shoved inside of her with no remorse. It burned and it stung. As if her insides were blistering up from the friction.

"Please, stop…" she tearfully mumbled, no longer containing the energy to scream. She felt her own life draining from her body. Eventually, she didn't even want to beg, or plead, or fight anymore. She just lie on the cold, rigid ground, and let it happen. While the man muttered words she couldn't understand and grunted with what seemed like pleasure, the tears steadily streamed from her eyes and she incessantly choked out little sobs and cries for help. But it was nothing loud enough for anyone to hear.

And then came the worst part of all. A thick, gooey, and warm sensation surged upwards, feeling as if it was entering her stomach. It made her want to puke. Everything made her want to puke right now. After what seemed like centuries, the brick was released from her. She heard the familiar jingle of the belt as the man stood up and re-dressed himself. Then, he dropped back down onto his knees and knelt down by Aelita's ear.

"Since you decided to fool around, you've earned your punishment. I know who your friends are, and I know where each of them live, and where they spend their free time. I'll find a way to get the information I desire. But for now… you're not going to tell a soul, do you understand?"

Aelita did not look towards the man as he crouched by her ear, his words biting against her ear drum. She merely stared at the sky above her; the once brilliant stars now appeared dull and ugly. The sky was disgusting. The moon was not sparkling. Night time was ugly now. Aelita hated the night. She slowly blinked, only once, and then forced a cracked whisper through her dry throat.

"I promise."

"A promise is a promise, Ms. Schaeffer. I'll see to it your friends suffer a fate worse than you just did if I find out you've opened your mouth."

And the man walked away.

Aelita still did not know who he was, how he knew her, and why he had just done what he did to her. The only thing Aelita knew was that she hurt. She hurt everywhere. The wounded area, torn and bloody, throbbed incessantly… the warm, red liquid trickling down her legs with each hot pulsation of her cuts.

She curled up into a ball and quietly sobbed to herself. The injured pinkette felt as if something had just been stolen from her. She had been robbed in an alley.

This man had committed the ultimate theft.


	11. Promises

**Woah! That's the longest I've ever gone without updating a story. Major writer's block that I am still trying to get past… this story isn't getting a lot of feedback at all, and it's really putting a damper in my progress. Your reviews keep me going! So please don't be afraid to leave any critique! My most recent chapter didn't get a single review and I'm really curious to know how well that did! Anyways… from here on out comes the fluff. Feel free to PM me ideas on where you'd like to see the story go because I'm still not sure.**

"Oh my God. Aelita… Oh, Aelita…"

Jeremie sat on the bed, watching the tormented woman's body tremble; her eyes overflowing with glistening droplets. He felt is very heart break into two pieces that tumbled into his stomach. He even began to feel water collecting in his own eyes.

"And I tried to tell him to stop but he didn't listen and he just kept going and it hurt so much… Oh, Jeremie it hurt _so _much…" Aelita's sobbed her story through her shuddering voice and Jeremie instantly pulled her into his arms, holding her as tightly as he could as her entire body shook in his grasp. Her weeping echoed throughout the entire room, and Jeremie was sure at some point, somebody would hear.

"Shhh…" Jeremie softly whispered against her ear lobes, tenderly rubbing his hand up and down her back. Aelita gripped her tiny arms around Jeremie with all of her might, burrowing her face into his sweater as the tears poured out of her eyes and drenched his clothing. "It's okay, Aelita. It's okay…"

"How c-can y-y-you say t-that!" she stuttered through her never-ending stream of sorrow.

"Because Aelita," Jeremie gently spoke as he rested his cheeks against her soft head of luscious pink hair. "Now that you've told me, we can do something abou-"

"NO!" Aelita angrily shouted as she shot her head up and glared at Jeremie. "You can't tell anyone else! You swore you wouldn't!"

"Aelita, we have to get you help…"

"NO! If you tell then who knows what he'll do!?"

"If we contact the authorities, then we can make sure he doesn't do _anything, _Aelita…"

Aelita stared at Jeremie quietly before erupting into tears once again. "Bu-but he'll find you! He knows Jeremie! He's been wa-watching me! I saw him at my wi-window today and he said that if I told he'd hurt my f-friends and-and…"

"Okay, okay okay okay… Shhhh, just calm down, Aelita…" Jeremie gently took Aelita back into his arms as she continued her tearful fit. "Shhhh… Everything is going to be alright, 'Lita. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again."

Aelita slowly lifted her head upwards from the comfort and warmth of Jeremie's blue sweater. Upon his caring face she gazed with her sorrowful eyes, glossed over with tears; yet also containing the faintest shimmer of hope. "You promise?" she whispered, followed by a gentle sniffle. Jeremie wiped away a drop as it trickled down her cheek and smiled at her.

"I promise."

She let out a gentle sigh full of contentment and nuzzled her head against his chest, loosening her grip and relaxing her body. Jeremie pulled the blanket that rested on the edge of bed upwards, entangling himself and Aelita in it's embrace. As she drifted away in his arms, he harshly stared at the wall and brushed his fingers through her silky pink mane, deep in thought. Who was after her and why? How did he even know who she was, or who Jeremie was? How did he know about the supercomputer? More importantly, why did he call her Aelita _Schaeffer? _Or mention Aelita's mother and father? Whoever this person is, he's up to no good. Jeremie had to do something about it… but the challenge was initiating action. Especially with Aelita pleading to him to not tell a soul. What terrified Jeremie the most was knowing that he was still out there, and now he was following Aelita.

He looked toward the blinds that gently rattled against the glass window as the cold air swept out of the vent and brushed against it. The sun was gradually settling beyond the horizon and it's sparkling orange rays were sneaking through the creases of the shutters. The warmth of the beams rested upon his face and brought light into the darkness that filled the room. Aelita stirred slightly in her sleep, her eyes tightly twitching and her lips curling into a frown. She began to mutter the words "no" and "stop," soft cries escaping from her quaking lips. Immediately, Jeremie pushed against her shoulders.

"Aelita," he whispered. "Aelita, wake up."

"Hmm?" she groaned as she forced her body upwards, the blanket sliding off of her back. She rubbed her tired eyes and pressed her hand against her forehead.

"You were having a nightmare, 'Lita."

"Oh… yeah," she mumbled, her eyes fixed into space.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't feel so good."

Jeremie rested his palm against her forehead, slightly glistening with beads of sweat. "You're warm," he confirmed. Aelita threw herself backwards onto the bed, grunting as she pulled her knees toward her chest and held her abdomen. Nervously, he scrambled to her side.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," Aelita gritted through her teeth. Jeremie felt her forehead again; his eyebrows quirked up at the amount of warmth festering inside her, the heat radiating off of her temples and almost burning his palms.

"You are _really _warm, Aelita," Jeremie tensely muttered. Uneasy about Aelita's condition, he walked over to her desk and brought around the trashcan that sat underneath it, placing it by her side. In response, Aelita continued to groan and clutched the blanket between her fingers. The worried blonde walked over to the door, causing the ill pinkette to jump up in her bed.

"Jeremie, no! Please don't leave me!" she cried out, extending her hand towards the door. He closed his eyes and smiled at her, wrapping his fingers around the cold metal of the door's handle.

"Don't worry, I'm coming right back," Jeremie soothingly reassured as he tenderly shut the door behind him. Aelita fretfully stared at the spot he once stood before her stomach began to churn again, distracting her from her daze. She dropped to the floor and hovered over the trash can, anxiously waiting for release. Overwhelmed with fear, anxiety, tension and nausea, her sweating body quivered over the waste basket and her fever sprinted throughout her veins.

_Where had Jeremie gone? _Aelita began to think. Her mind was getting the best out of her. _How long was he going to take? What if he didn't come back at all? What if the man in black was standing out there and captured him? No, now you're just being silly. _Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the bile that had riled inside her stomach making it's escape from her body.The feeling of a hand on her back startled her.

"See? I told you I'd be right back." Jeremie happily smiled down at her, and she heaved a sigh of relief before leaning against her bed. "I brought you this for your fever." He took the cool rag he had soaked with icy water and pressed it against her forehead. The numbing sensation melted away the heat that pulsated in her head, and she closed her eyes and delighted in the sensation.

"Thank you," she silently uttered. "I was… kind of afraid that you wouldn't come back."

"Why wouldn't I?" Jeremie said, a bit taken aback, as he dabbed the sweat away from her neck.

"I just don't want to be alone ever again."

"Okay," Jeremie agreed. "Then I promise I'll never let you be left alone." He caringly smiled at her and brought her into his arms again. "Aelita?"

"Hmm?" She mumbled into his shoulder.

"How long have you been feeling sick?"

"I don't know. I guess since… since…" She stared at the floor and let her words trail off, not wanting to go any further.

"It's okay, you don't have to say it." Jeremie constrained his fist against his lips as he furrowed his brows together in deep contemplation, his eyes avoiding the gaze of Aelita as she curiously looked at him.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"No… I'm sure it's nothing." He let his fist fall from his mouth and reassured Aelita, but she did not appear convinced. "I just think… maybe another trip to the Hermitage wouldn't hurt."


	12. Fine

"I don't like this place, Jeremie. It scares me." Her tracks stopped right before the concrete stairs that towered in front of her. A gentle breeze threw a crumbling leaf into the air and brushed it against her nose before she watched it disappear into the forest, where she'd much rather be chasing after it than entering the old building in front of her.

"There's no need to be afraid, Aelita. I'm right here with you," the blonde comforted as he gently took her shaking hand into both of his, planting a delicate kiss upon it. The warmth of the sparkling smile against his pale face washed away the fear that had so suddenly overwhelmed her tiny body. Her shy lips subtly twitched into a smile before quickly fading, and he led her into the home.

Jeremie got on his knees and began rummaging through boxes on the floor, eager to find out more about Franz Hopper. The dust sprawled up from the ground and spread into Jeremie's face, causing him to cough and hack as he wiped his glasses on his sweater. Meanwhile, Aelita had travelled up the creaky, splintered staircase and directly into the old bedroom. She could see the particles of dust gracefully floating in the rays of sun that crept through the shattered windows. Her hands playfully batted at them, but she was quickly distracted by a tattered painting halfway nailed to the wall. Something drew her towards it, although she wasn't sure why. The painting was outlined with a golden frame, the detailed trim spiraling around the image of an old, looming tree. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a simple tree, it's forest green branches engulfing any empty space left in the image.

"What a pretty tree," Aelita quietly muttered under her warm breath as the tips of her skinny fingers gently rubbed against the leaves. Her delicate touch caused the fragile drawing to tear from the nails that poorly held it in place, and she jumped back as she watched the painting crash onto the ground. "Ah!" she yelped.

"Aelita?" Jeremie apprehensively called out from downstairs, startled by the sudden noise from above. He scampered up the stairs, his shoes thudding so heavily against the wood that he was sure it would cave in beneath his feet. "Are you okay?" he cried out, stopped at the frame of the door to catch his breath. Aelita stared at the hole in the wall in front of her, once slyly covered by the gorgeous tree. Standing on her tiptoes, she peered inside the dark gap, wondering what secrets it contained. Her eyes met the sight of a worn, dusty doll. An elf doll, patiently sitting in the center of the wall, waiting for the day that someone would find him. She eagerly took the doll into her possession, her thumbs rubbing against it's fabric limbs.

"Mr. Puck…" she cooed.

"Mr. What?" Jeremie questioned, taking the little plush from her hand and staring at it.

* * *

Ulrich twirled the limbs of the doll around in his hands, stopping to observe it's worn features. "So, you're telling me that Aelita has never seen this doll before," he started, looking up at Jeremie, "but she's been having dreams about it, and she knows it's name is Mr. Puck?" Odd and Yumi sat on the bed with Ulrich, crowding around the little goblin toy.

"That's right," Jeremie confirmed as he leaned against his wardrobe and pushed his glasses upwards on his nose.

"And, exactly what happens in your dreams again, Aelita?" Yumi asked, leaning forward on the edge of the bed. Aelita sat on the floor, her back against the wooden dresser, hugging her knees against her chest. She stared blankly into space, before being distracted my Yumi's second calling of her name.

"Huh?" she turned her head. "Oh, nothing. I don't know. I just see him sometimes. Sitting in the same tree that I saw in the painting."

"Weird."

"Here you go, Princess," Odd called out as he threw the doll towards her. She caught it in her hands and held it tightly against her chest, continuing to stare at the wall. Odd raised an eyebrow at her, but refrained from speaking about it, and attempted to change the subject. "So XANA… he's been awfully quiet lately, huh?"

"Almost too quiet." Jeremie wrinkled his brow and rubbed his middle and index finger against his lips, pondering the program's suspicious absence.

"Because we're dealing with someone worse than XANA," Aelita quietly exhaled, her eyes still fixed on the white slate of Jeremie's wall. The three warriors sitting on the bed straightened their postures, exchanging inquiring looks.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Yumi asked, with the others only shrugging. Jeremie knew, though. And Yumi could tell that Jeremie knew. The color in his face slightly flushed away, hinting that he was nervous. He knew something that the others didn't.

Aelita stood up and straightened out her dress. "Jeremie, I want to go back to my room."

"Sure thing, Aelita," he smiled at her and led her out of the door. "I'll be right back, guys." The door shut behind him. Again, the three stared at each other with puzzled expressions.

"Is there a reason Jeremie _had_ to go with her just to her bedroom?" Odd asked, scratching his head in thought.

"She has been acting so weird lately," Ulrich replied, gazing at the door and then turning to Odd. "And I've got a feeling Jeremie is in on it."

"Hmmm," Yumi hummed.

"What is it, Yumi?"

"Are you thinking about what's for lunch? Because I'm starving, too!"

"I think I'm going to try talking to Jeremie," Yumi put simply before exiting the room, leaving Odd and Ulrich to continue their daze of confusion.

* * *

Aelita stared at the ground as Jeremie guided her down the hallway, her feet dragging along the carpet, Mr. Puck dangling at her side. A child late to class came zooming down the hall, bumping into Aelita and causing her to trip. She plummeted onto the ground, her doll tumbling across the floor.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Jeremie angrily shouted, turning around and watching the student disappear. He quickly turned his attention back to Aelita, who was staring at Mr. Puck. "Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling down by her side.

"Look," Aelita requested, pointing to sparkling silver object tucked by Mr. Puck's foot, appearing to have fallen out. Jeremie picked it up and twirled it between his fingers.

"It's a key. I wonder where it leads to," he pondered. Aelita shrugged. The blonde shoved the key into his pocket at helped Aelita up, continuing the path to her door.

"Jeremie…" Aelita cautiously sat down on the edge of her bed, Jeremie following her as he shut and tightly locked her door as per her request.

"Yes, 'Lita?"

"Are you… angry with me?" She shyly stared at her doll, twiddling her thumbs.

"What? No!"

"I just… I'm being so selfish and needy. I'm acting like a baby, aren't I? I'm sure I'm making a big deal out of no-"

"Stop right there," Jeremie demanded as he pressed his index finger against her lips. "Aelita… you are not being selfish, nor are you being needy." The boy sat next to ashamed woman, gently tilting her head towards him as he smiled upon her. "You're just scared, and that's okay. Something bad happened to you. Everything you're feeling is perfectly normal; and I certainly don't mind being there for you in your time of need. I care about you, 'Lita. I want to make sure you're safe and that bad things don't happen to you anymore."

"Thank you, Jeremie," she timidly spoke as a tint of red blended onto her complexion. He smiled at her before redirecting his attention to the small key, noting the number.

"What do you think it's for?"

"I don't…" Jeremie was too distracted to finish his sentence, almost breaking a sweat from the intense activity in his brain. A faint whistle erupted in the distance, followed by something tapping against his foot. He looked down to see a toy train frustratingly bumping into his toes. Aelita giggled.

"Hey, Jeremie! Look what I got!" Odd ecstatically greeted as he approached Jeremie and Aelita with a remote control in his hand. "Cool, huh? Better than a tamogotchi! Although don't tell Jean Pierre I said that…"

"THAT'S IT!" Jeremie screamed. "A train station! It's the key to a train station locker!"

"Wha?" Odd perked up one of his eyebrows as Jeremie grabbed Aelita's hand and sprinted down the hallway. "He-hey! Where are you going?"

"So, why are we here again?" Odd asked as he followed Jeremie along with the others towards the looming tower of abandoned lockers. The train station had long been out of business, and anything that had been left behind in the lockers stayed firmly in place. Papers and wads of trash littered the dark linoleum of the once lively transportation route. The tapping of the trespassers' footsteps echoed throughout the room, darkness surrounding them save the light from Jeremie's phone. Aelita clutched onto his arm, frantically darting her eyes back and forth and raising her awareness of all surroundings. It was too dark for her liking…far too dark.

"The key that fell out of Mr. Puck leads to one of these lockers. Surely there's got to be something important behind this door." Jeremie walked up to the locker that matched the number of that printed on the silver, and cautiously slid it inside.

"What's it say?" Ulrich asked, pointing toward the engravings on the front.

"FH…" Yumi gasped. "That has to stand for Franz Hopper!"

"Or fried ham! Is it lunch time yet?" A gurgle filled the silence of the room as Odd rubbed his stomach. Jeremie got on his knees and placed the suitcase on the bench.

"I wonder what's inside," Ulrich whispered as he knelt down with Jeremie.

"We're about to find out," the blonde replied as he forced open the tightly shut case. Yumi and Odd bent over, hovering over the suitcase as it's mysterious contents were unveiled.

"Oh wow, music!" Odd cried.

"Certainly not! I bet these CDs contain very important data. They look heavily coded, though." Jeremie picked up one of the cracked CD covers and held it leveled to his eyes, observing intently.

Yumi leaned in closer, tucking her hair behind her ear as it fell into her face. "Do you think you can crack them tonight? Maybe in a day or two?"

"More like a year or two. I'll see what I can do, though."

Aelita stared into the distance of the omniscient locker room; her back leaned against the cold metal of the lockers. She had zoned out from the conversation the others had about the CDs. Her hands started quivering inside the pocket of her jumper, and she clenched her fists to help relieve the tremor.

"Aelita," Yumi said; the first to step away from the little crowd. "Are you okay?"

Aelita did not turn her attention to Yumi, but continued to stare. For a second, she even thought she could hear the faint crackling of someone's radio set. A dark figure wisped across the room, hidden in the never ending blackness. Nobody else would have noticed.

"Fine," she sternly whispered. "I'm fine."


	13. Revelations and Broken Promises

"_Aelita,"_ Franz whispered, kneeling down by her bedside. _"Wake up, my angel."_ She stirred in her sleep, rubbing her eyes as she slowly met the sight of the old man.

"_Ah!"_ she shrieked, scooting backwards in her bed and hiding away under her blanket, peeking one of her eyes out. _"What are you doing here?! Who are you?!"_ In response to her startle, the man moved backwards and placed his hand on his chest as if he had been stabbed in his heart.

"_You… you don't remember who I am?"_ His lips quivered and he gently brought his fingers against them, his eyebrows bending backwards in despair. Aelita angrily gaped at him, confused but also frustrated.

"_What?"_ she scoffed.

"_I asked for you to never forget me, Aelita."_

"_I can't forget someone I never knew, you crazy old man!"_

"_You told him."_

"_Wha… what?"_

Franz snapped his head towards her, the sorrow replaced by rage. Aelita cornered herself against her wall as she watched his wrinkled face morph into the smooth, young face of the devious man who had stolen her innocence and ruined her life. The thick bifocals cracked and revealed the glistening sunglasses that hid his eyes, his voice distorting from the comforting sound of Franz Hopper and into the raspy boom of the criminal.

"_You told him, Ms. Schaeffer. I thought you made a promise, hmm?"_

"_I… I.."_ Aelita clutched her sheets between her fists, turning her head away as the man in black began to crawl towards her. Just before his nose touched hers, he whispered into her face.

"_You broke your promise, Ms. Schaeffer. Remember that I made a promise, too? Unfortunately for you, I don't break my promises."_ His hand started to crawl down her arm, and Aelita let out a shriek.

The blood curdling scream echoed throughout her small room and Jeremie burst through the door.

"Aelita!" he cried, running to her side as her body shook underneath her covers. "Aelita, what's wrong?" The terrified girl hid away from Jeremie as if he were the criminal, hiding her face behind her pillow. Tears began to soak the thin cotton of the pillow case. "Aelita," Jeremie pleaded, tearing the pillow away from her. "Aelita, it's me! Jeremie!"

Her grip loosened on the pillow and she peeked one of her eyes open, looking upon the worried face of the blonde boy. Without saying a word, she threw herself into his embrace and began to scream more, before her desperate shrill turned into a pitiful sob.

"He's angry that I told him!" she shrieked into his chest, clutching onto his night shirt. "He knows! It's all over for me Jeremie! What have I done?"

"Aelita, calm down!" Jeremie begged, anxiously looking at the door and fearing Jim would hear her cries. "Aelita, sweetheart, you've _got _to calm down… it was just a dream, okay? I'm here, 'Lita. Just calm down."

She choked back her tears, sniffling and hiccupping against his chest as Jeremie tightly hugged his arms around her. "Please don't leave me again," she pled.

"I'm not going anywhere." Jeremie rubbed her back and sat in silence as she took deep breaths, calming herself down.

"Jeremie?" she whispered, breaking the silence after a few minutes.

"Yes?"

"What did you call me earlier?" she turned her head upwards, looking at Jeremie. Her wet cheeks sparkled under the light of the moon that snuck through the window. Jeremie stared directly into her eyes, which still had tears pooling in the corners. He took the edge of his sleeve and dabbed it onto her cheeks, drying away the drops.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, earlier, when you were telling me to calm down. You called me something."

"Lita?"

"No…you called me something else. I think you called me… sweetheart." Aelita playfully smiled at him, a mischievous look in her eyes.

"I… um… well…" Jeremie pulled at his collar, his nose and cheekbones flushing a brighter pink than the color of Aelita's hair. "I just… my tongue slipped."

"Maybe you should let it slip more often," she softly spoke and nuzzled her head against his chest. Sleeping came easy to Aelita as long as Jeremie was around, and she was gone within seconds. Jeremie chucked to himself and smiled, leaning his head against hers.

* * *

"Man, this guy sure doesn't like to make this easy," The hard-working man muttered under his breath as his fingers sprinted across the plastic keys. It was Sunday, so no classes; meaning Jeremie had the entire day to work at decoding Franz's heavily encrypted diary. The last dangling leaves of the quickly dying trees plucked themselves off of the frail branches, gusting away in the wind. It seems like just yesterday was the day that Aelita had walked into class after the event, completely silent. Weeks turned into months, and with each passing day she grew more frightened and vulnerable. Jeremie was more than concerned for her well-being. He wanted so badly to tell the others and personally hunt down whoever did this to her, but the question was to figure out how. Aelita would never trust him again if she found out he had told, but at the same time, it was really in her benefit. Jeremie realized he had lost his focus on his work, and quickly shook the distracting thoughts out of his head. He wasn't free for long, though, as Aelita, who had been sitting on his bed watching him work, piped up her little voice to disrupt the silence.

"You're awfully quiet."

"Sorry, I'm just focused," he politely responded, giving the humanoid girl a brief smile before turning his direction back to the blaring light of the computer screen. Aelita leaned back on his bed and crossed her legs, happily watching him work so hard just for the sake of finding her anti-virus. Her dress snugly wrinkled around her abdomen, and she began to frustratingly tug at it. After a moment of fighting, she threw herself backwards and let out a defeated sigh.

"Jeremie," she said. "I'm going to go to my room for a moment."

"Why?" he replied, turning around in his chair. "Are you okay?"

"My dress is too tight. I'm going to find something else to wear."

Jeremie's glasses swiftly fell off of his face, landing directly into his ghost white hands that sat gently in his lap. "What did you just say?"

"I said my dress is too tight. Is that bad?" Aelita clutched her fingers together against her mouth, growing concerned at Jeremie's reaction. Jeremie replaced his eyeglasses back onto his face.

"No, no. I'm sure it shrunk in the wash." Aelita raised her eyebrows at him. Jeremie continued to make the situation clearer to her. "You know how heat makes things shrink compared to how cold expands, right? Well it's the same way with water temperatures and clothing. Hot water makes your clothing susceptible to shrinking."

"But I wash my clothes in cold water."

Jeremie blinked in response.

"Jeremie, you're scaring me."

The blonde shook his head rapidly, evicting the negative thoughts from his head. "Sorry," he apologized as he straightened up his hair. "Like I said I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be here when you get back." Aelita smiled and left the room, leaving the door open behind her. Jeremie turned his attention back to the computer screen, but was quickly interrupted once again.

"Hey, Jeremie," Yumi greeted as she helped herself into his room. "Can I talk to you?"

"About?" Jeremie spun his chair around, crossing his left leg over his right. Yumi nervously sighed, avoiding eye-contact and playing with her fingers. Jeremie, puzzled, raised an eyebrow at her before repeating himself. "Well? About?"

Yumi sighed again, slowly raising her gaze to Jeremie. "Aelita."

"Um, what about her?" Jeremie fumbled over his words, pulling at his collar. He knew that if Yumi asked him about what happened, he didn't have it in him to lie to her. Aelita needed to get help.

"I think you know, Jeremie."

"Uhh…" Jeremie stuttered and swallowed his words. He began typing away on the computer, attempting to look as if he was busy. "This isn't a good time. I'm busy."

"Listen, Jeremie," Yumi raised her voice as she slammed the door behind her. "Everyone knows that _something _is going on, whether or not we know exactly what. Look at the way she's acting. She doesn't talk to anyone anymore, she doesn't laugh or smile unless you're around, and she clings to you like a parasite. This is a girl who literally does not exist at all outside of Kadic academy. She has no family and doesn't even know who she is and why she's here, and yet she still managed to keep a smile on her face all the time regardless and give anything to her friends. Now all of a sudden you can't even get her to say hello. She almost let herself die on Lyoko! She's never needed this much attention before. She's never been this vulnerable. Something happened that changed her, and with the way she looks at you and follows you around like a lost puppy, I'm getting the vibe that she's told you what happened. And you're not getting rid of me until I find out myself."

"I don't know what happened, Yumi. Yes, she clings onto me and wants me around all the time. But it doesn't bother me, she won't tell me either, and I'm just trying to be there for her."

"Cut the crap, Jeremie! The look in your eyes right now is the same look Aelita carries when someone asks her if she's okay. You know, Jeremie."

"I _don't, _Yumi."

"Jeremie, please, just tell me!"

Jeremie turned away from her, crossing his arms as Yumi stood before him and clenched her fists against her sides. "Jeremie, I've seen the blood. She walks as if she's in pain. I've heard her crying in the shower and in her room. I hear her screaming when she has nightmares-"

"But Aelita has _always _had nightmares."

"Stop making excuses for her!" Something bad obviously happened and if you don't tell then it's only going to get worse."

"I can't tell you, Yumi. You'll have to get it out of her, not me."

"So you _do _know."

"What?"

"You admitted it."

"Admitted what?"

"This isn't funny, Jeremie!"

"No one is laughing, Yumi." Jeremie glared at her as he pushed his glasses up his nose. The coldness of his stare extinguished the flames in her eyes.

"Jeremie, what about the blood? She's been to Yolanda's twice now. I don't think she even knows what a period is so I don't believe her when she says that's all. She cries all the time. She shuts away everyone when all we're trying to do is help."

"Yumi, stop."

"I don't recognize her anymore! This isn't the Aelita we brought to Earth."

"Yumi!"

"Jeremie!" Yumi angrily pleaded with him, gripping her hands into his knees as he cornered himself against the back of his chair.

"Stop," he demanded.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!"

Silence. Jeremie turned away from her, biting his lip so fiercely that it began to bleed. Like the blood that streamed down Aelita's legs every day for the first week. Yumi backed away, her chest rapidly rising and descending with each raging breath. Jeremie squinted his eyes shut, trying to imagine Yumi wasn't there; that he wasn't being interrogated. Aelita would kill him. He made a promise.

"Jeremie!"

"SHE WAS RAPED!" Jeremie snapped, screaming in Yumi's face as he shot out of his chair and then immediately turned his back to her. He clenched his fists so tightly against his sides that his knuckles turned white and his fingernails dug into his palms.

"Wha…what?" Yumi's heart began to pound inside her chest, almost erupting from her skin. The already miniscule color in her pale Asian features washed away completely.

"Aelita went for a walk by herself one night. It was dark, and her curiosity got the best of her. Someone had been watching her for a while. I don't know who, but it's someone who knows about her, Franz Hopper, and the supercomputer. He knows more about her past than we do. He followed her there, and he did it. That's why she cries at night. That's why she bleeds. That's why she won't talk to anyone. Are you happy? I told you," Jeremie choked as he took off his glasses and wiped away the tears that collected in his eyes.

"Oh my God," Yumi spoke, barely bringing herself to a whisper.

"And if that wasn't bad enough," Jeremie continued, "He is still after her. She tells me that she sees him everywhere she goes, and she always feels like he's being watched. He's been here. She saw him through her window one day. That's why she follows me around all the time. Because she's scared. Because she knows that if she's ever left alone again, he'll finish what he started."

"But… how could this happen? She's not… you know… human."

"I'm not so sure of that anymore…" Jeremie slowly turned to face Yumi.

"What?"

"Franz and the supercomputer obviously have some sort of connection, which means he also has a connection to Aelita. This guy is in her dreams and calls her angel and darling. That's awfully fatherly, if you ask me. She always has to go to the same child's bedroom when we visit the Hermitage. She knew about Mr. Puck without have ever even seeing it before. I used to think these visions of hers were just tricks on her mind via XANA, thanks to the virus implanted in her… but now, I'm not sure. If she wasn't human… she shouldn't really have… the right parts for this to have happened to her."

"Have you decoded any of the diary entries yet?"

"A little, but not enough to tell us anything. And I think we have a bigger problem on our hands, too."

"Bigger than this? What?"

"You'll know about this one more than I do…" Jeremie walked over to his computer desk and pressed his hands onto the countertop, leaning over his computer, loose blonde locks dangling in his face.

"What are you talking about?" Yumi irritatingly asked, lost in the eruption of despair.

"Do you remember that strange orb that has been popping up every time Aelita goes to Lyoko? And for some reason, XANA is very keen on destroying it?"

"Yes."

"Remember how I said I thought it was a fragment of DNA that separated during the transfer?"

"Yes…"

"Well, it was DNA, alright. And yes, it did contain Aelita's DNA… but… there was other DNA, too."

"So… um…" Yumi gnawed on her fingernails, trying to make sense of the information Jeremie was giving her. "What… what does that mean?"

Jeremie sighed. "She throws up… Every. Single. Morning."

"So?"

"Do you know what she said to me today?" Jeremie turned around, looking at the awe stricken face of Yumi. Her body was practically shaking from the overwhelming amount of news. She shook her head at him. "She told me her dress was getting tight. Around her _stomach, _Yumi."

"You don't think… that…"

Jeremie sighed and fell backwards onto his bed, letting his aching head drop into his hands. Yumi joined his side. "The last time we went to Lyoko, I was able to run a test as I scanned her. It acted as an x-ray, if you will…"

"So… you know for sure, then?"

"Not for sure, no. It didn't really show me much, just that something was there. We'd have to run an actual test to find out."

"What are we going to do?"

"The trouble doesn't end there."

"Oh, come on… what _else _could be there?"

Again, Jeremie sighed. "If she really is… Yumi…then… we can't send her to Lyoko anymore."

"Why not? We sent her before."

"Yes, but that was very very early on. That was what, over a month ago? The scanner doesn't know how to properly perform that action. It's past the embryotic stage and so at this point… if she goes to Lyoko… it dies. Maybe Aelita, too. I don't really know what would happen…"

"Oh, no."

"Jeremie."

Yumi and Jeremie's heads shot up, meeting the sight of a tearful, shaking Aelita standing at the door. She had been listening the entire time.

"Aelita," Jeremie and Yumi both gasped. Oh, _no. _

"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone," she angrily choked through her tears before charging down the hallway.

"Aelita, wait!" Jeremie cried, reaching his hand towards the now empty door frame.

"Looks like the trouble doesn't end here, either…"


	14. Cracking the Code

"Aelita, please, wait!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, running down the hall as both the fair-haired boy and Japanese woman raced after her.

"Aelita, I was just trying to help! I'm sorry!" He begged for forgiveness, but she discounted his pleas with tears spilling from her troubled eyes.

"I trusted you! You promised you wouldn't tell, Jeremie!"

"Aelita, Jeremie was just trying to protect you!" Yumi called out to her, trying to defend Jeremie. Still, the betrayed pinkette heeded no attention to their words. She rushed to her room, ready to lock herself away, but Jeremie grabbed onto her wrist and stopped her.

"Aelita, please!" As soon as he latched onto her arm, she screeched and tossed herself against the door, panting heavily. When she looked at the boy genius that she cared deeply for, instead, she saw the evil criminal who she wanted only miserable things to happen to.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she ordered.

"Aelita…" Jeremie stopped to realize what he had done, looking at her tormented face as she clutched her wrist. "Aelita, "I'm sorr-" but the door slammed in his face before he could finish. He rubbed his aching nose that had been smashed into the wood frame of the door.

"Go. Away." Her cries stifled from the other side of the door, and Jeremie sank to the floor, exhaling deeply.

"Great," he sarcastically said, hanging his head between his knees. "What have I done?"

"This is my fault, Jeremie… not yours. I shouldn't have forced you to tell me."

Jeremie sighed. "But you're right, Yumi. It had to be done. We can't help her if we keep everything hidden." Yumi propped against the door, letting her body slide down to meet the side of Jeremie. They exchanged pitiful looks and both sighed in unison.

"This is a mess," they agreed.

"Maybe you should let me try and talk to her, Jeremie. Go back to your room, see if you can crack Hopper's diary. I'll wait here until she's ready to talk."

Reluctant, Jeremie nodded his head and slowly stood himself up. He dropped his hands inside his pockets and lugged his feet down the hall, exiting into his room. Yumi brushed her midnight hair out of her face and tucked it away, pressing her ear against the door. She could hear the silent sobbing of Aelita. It sounded as if maybe she was trying to cover it up with the suffocation of a pillow, but she wasn't very skilled at hiding it. This had become a sound that she, unfortunately, had become all too familiar with.

"Aelita?" she gently spoke, scratching her knuckles against the grooves in the hardwood. "Can I come in?" The tears ceased, but there was no answer. Yumi waited for a good moment, listening to see if she could at least hear Aelita's footsteps pattering against the carpet, indicating she was walking towards the door; but there was nothing. Yumi sighed and turned her back against the door again. Seconds passed, then minutes, and then hours. A texting conversation with Ulrich on her cell phone kept her occupied. He asked what she was doing, and Yumi wondered how far she should go to answer his question.

_Just waiting on something, _she typed, but then quickly deleted. If she said that, he would ask: waiting for what? Maybe if she answered his question before he could ask it. _Waiting outside Aelita's door, _she entered, before quickly hitting the backspace key on her mobile once again. If she said that, he'd ask why. If he asked why, well, she couldn't lie to him. But the last thing Aelita needed was one more person finding out against her will. If only she understood they were just trying to help. Yumi decided to go with the classic: _Nothing much, you?_

A few more moments passed and her pocket began to vibrate. Ecstatic, she pulled out her cellular, thinking that Ulrich responded. Turned out it was just Jeremie, demanding that she come to his room. Just as she stood up to oblige his request, the door released and she fell backwards onto Aelita's floor.

"You wanted to come in?" She solemnly asked; her pupils directed at the pink carpet of her flooring.

"Yeah," Yumi leered before standing up to brush herself off. "I wanted to talk to you about earlier."

Aelita strolled over to her bed and sat down, grappling Mr. Puck against her chest. "Go on," she said. She was still livid, Yumi could feel it. She didn't feel welcome in her room, but hopefully she could try calming her down.

"Aelita…" Yumi started, before going to sit on her bed. Aelita shot her a sudden glare, telling Yumi to stay as far away from her as she could. She quickly stepped away and folded her hands behind her back. "It's my fault," she sighed. "I harassed Jeremie and ended up forcing him to tell me. He didn't want to. He was so afraid you would be angry with him."

"Well I am," the pink-haired girl quietly snapped, playing with the fragile limbs of her doll.

"But you shouldn't be, Aelita. He is just trying to help."

"Yeah well now we are all in danger because of it. I don't call that very helpful."

"Aelita, don't you see? With you keeping this inside, you're only hurting yourself more. You're letting him roam around at his own will, free to do this to other people. But with you telling someone, you can get help, and we can make sure he gets the punishment he deserves."

Aelita darted her eyes towards Yumi before redirecting her regard to her tattered little goblin. He tossed Mr. Puck aside and sighed. "How?"

"We could go to the police," she suggested.

"I don't think that would work. I think this guy is in _charge _of the police."

Yumi sighed. She wasn't exactly sure what to say. "Aelita, please don't be mad at Jeremie. You know he really cares about you. I just think that, as a guy, he can't really understand what you're going through."

"Why does him being a boy make it any different?"

"Aelita, do you… do you really know what happened to you?"

"Well it's like a XANA attack…only scarier. And it hurt. At least on Lyoko things don't hurt."

"May I sit down?" The ethnic woman asked, nudging her chin towards the bare spot on Aelita's bed. She nodded, inviting her to join her side. Yumi sat down and smoothed out the wrinkles in her sheets before turning to face Aelita.

"Aelita," she started. "You are a girl."

"Yes…"

"Do you know what makes you a girl?"

"Well… I've got longer hair than boys, even though it's still pretty short. I've also noticed I have a larger collection of fat on my pectorals."

"Uhh… yes, but there's more to it than that."

"There is? What?"

"Oh boy." Yumi scratched her head, trying to figure out where she was going with this. "Umm… we have different body parts than a boy does. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but you've got a hole in between your legs, right?"

"Uh…" Aelita titled her head downwards. "Well, yes."

"Well, a boy… they don't have a hole like that. They have something else. I guess it's kind of like… a pole. It goes… um… it uh…"

"Yumi, why are you hesitating so much?"

"Sorry, this isn't exactly something that comes up in normal conversation."

"Oh, I see."

Yumi straightened her posture and took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "Let me start from the beginning. As a girl, you have an opening between your legs… it's called a vagina. That's what makes you a woman. You also have a special organ called a uterus, and a special chemical released throughout your body called estrogen. All of this is what makes you different from a boy, and is what causes you to have longer hair and such."

"A… vagina?"

Yumi closed her eyes and smiled slightly. She was almost blushing from the awkwardness of the conversation. "Yeah."

"So then what does a boy have?"

"Er, well… I don't know as much about boys as I do you or myself. Instead of a hole in their legs, they have sort of… a pole. It's called a… er… a penis. Instead of estrogen, they have what's called testosterone. It makes their hair shorter; their body isn't as slim or curvy as ours, and so on."

"I see," Aelita repeated as she stared at Yumi and sunk her chin into her fists. Her eyes were wide, her little brain retaining as much information as possible. "This is all very interesting."

"Uh-huh, sure. Okay so… let's just say that a man and a woman fit together like a puzzle piece. Because you've got the hole, and the pole… and uh… I'm sure you can figure that out. That's called sexual intercourse. Some just call it sex. Intercourse is the more proper term, you could say."

"What's it do?"

"Well… it's what makes humans. People usually have intercourse to reproduce, start a family, make a baby, you know. Sometimes they do it just for fun, or because they love each other. It's not always about having a child."

"Because they love each other? So does that mean you and Ulrich have had intercourse?"

"Wha- what!?" Yumi's eyes nearly popped out of her face, her cheeks brightening a red brighter than crimson. "I… um… we… no! No. We haven't. That's um… it's… we're just friends!"

"But you still love him, right?" Aelita was confused as to why Yumi was reacting so strangely.

"Okay miss curiosity, that's enough questions." Yumi looked away and sighed, knowing that the light hearted conversation was about to go downhill. "Aelita…"

"Yes, Yumi?"

"What that man did to you… it's a type of intercourse."

Aelita's heart sank. "But… I thought you said it happened between people who loved eachother."

"It does, usually… but... Aelita, what happened to you is called rape. It's forced intercourse."

She lowered her head. "Oh. Is it supposed to hurt?"

"Yes. It does. Before the rape, you were what we call a virgin. Someone who hasn't had intercourse before. It means that hole is tighter, not as open as someone who _has _had intercourse. Which means it's going to hurt more the first time that a guy puts his… um, thing, inside you. You probably had a lot of tearing in there. That's probably why you were bleeding so much."

"Oh."

"Here might be a better way for you to understand this… Aelita, virginity is something most people consider special. You know that robbery is a very bad thing, right?"

"Yes, of course. Stealing is wrong."

"Right. And people who rob are bad people, yes? And deserve to be punished?"

"Of course."

"But, those that are robbed don't necessarily do anything to deserve it, right?"

"No, why would they?"

"Exactly. Aelita, this man stole your virginity from you. You were robbed. And so you need to understand that it's not your fault. You didn't do anything that caused you to deserve this, okay? So please don't feel ashamed, and don't be so afraid to tell us. As your friends, we are here to help you. We love you."

"Does that mean you're going to try to have intercourse with me?"

"Okay, I really should've been more clear on this. I mean like, married couples. Boyfriends and girlfriends, you know."

"Oh."

"Don't worry… the blanks I'm leaving will quickly be filled in on your own. This stuff will start coming naturally to you soon enough."

"So what is a uterus? You said I had one of those."

Yumi sank her head. "That's… that's something else I needed to talk to you about."

"What? Is something wrong?"

"You remember how I mentioned reproduction earlier, right?"

"Yes."

"Well… when a woman has intercourse with a man, it creates a baby. That baby human is housed inside a woman's uterus for nine months until it's time for the baby to come out. The time that the baby is inside the woman is called being pregnant."

"Why did you need to talk to me about that?"

"Aelita… because you've had intercourse… even though you didn't want it, it's still possible that… that you could be pregnant."

"You mean… I have… a human inside me?"

"Well, you might not. But I think we need to have you take a test and find out."

Aelita rubbed her hands against her abdomen, a feeling of anxiety locked in her throat. She fearfully looked at Yumi, still not quite understanding what was going on. She trusted that someday she'd grasp the situation, but for now, she was still confused.

"But… how can this be possible, if I'm not really human?"

"Well… that's a good question. Because you were raped, it means you have a vagina. Which means you probably have all the other female parts too, and I'm sure they work."

"So… is that… the thing Jeremie was talking about? On Lyoko?"

"He thinks so. Oh, no! Jeremie!"

"What?"

"I was supposed to meet him in his room! He said it was important!"

"Oh. Well, can I go with you?"

Yumi smiled at Aelita, offering up her hand to help her off the bad. "You're not too mad at him?"

She smiled in return. "No, I can't be. You're right… he was just trying to help. I should thank him, if anything. But… can we please keep this a secret from Odd and Ulrich for now? I don't want this getting around… and… to be truthful, I don't quite trust Odd. He's always bribing Milly with stories."

"I understand. Come on."

"Well, Jeremie?" Yumi said, slowly letting the heavy door creak open. "What's so important?"

Jeremie sat at his computer, his head low, postured slumped, and his arms folded. The glowing from the screen illuminated his face in the darkness of the room, as the sun had long since set beneath the horizon. He slowly turned his chair to Yumi and Aelita, surprised to see the pinkette standing next to Yumi.

"Aelita," he perked up.

"I'm… I'm sorry about earlier."

"No, Aelita. I'm sorry. Especially for grabbing your arm like that, when…"

"It's okay… you were right. You were just doing it because you care about me, and I'm grateful for that."

Jeremie heaved a sigh of relief and smiled, standing up and walking over to Aelita. "So… does that mean you will let me help you?"

"Yes. But… let's not tell Odd or Ulrich just yet. Please?"

"Okay. I promise for real, this time."

"Alright, you two can have your moment later," Yumi playfully teased. "What was so urgent that you called me here for?"

"Um, well, I called you here over an hour ago."

"Sorry, I was trying to help Aelita understand her situation better."

"Well…" Jeremie said, sliding his hand into his wrinkled pockets and walking back over to his computer. "I think this will help her understand even more."

"What's that?"

Jeremie took a deep breath and aligned his glasses. "I managed to decode Hopper's diary."

"What? That was fast."

"I know. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be, but… I had a little help. From the man himself."

"You mean… you've been in contact with him?" Aelita quietly questioned. Jeremie nodded his head.

"Indirectly, yes. You remember Sector 5, of course, and how it's the heart of Lyoko?"

The two girls nodded their heads.

"Franz Hopper also lives inside Sector 5… along with XANA. He's a… prisoner, if you will. He has been sending me data to crack it, and I went to the factory earlier to use the supercomputer so I could open it. I needed a lot of power. Surprisingly enough, XANA remained quiet."

"That's shocking, he usually doesn't like when we play with his toys."

"Mmhmm. We can only make contact with him when he needs to reach us, though. Normally he remains in hiding from XANA."

"So… what made him come out this time?" Yumi kept her inquisitive gawk locked on Jeremie as she sat down on the sinking comfort of his mattress. Both women were listening intently, although Aelita felt almost afraid of what she was about to find out.

"He wanted to help Aelita."

"Huh?" Aelita gasped, her eyebrows shelling upwards.

"Franz Hopper _was _the creator of Lyoko. He documented everything that happened before, during, and after the creation of the supercomputer, the scanners, Lyoko… even XANA."

"So, then you can find Aelita's anti-virus!" Although Yumi was excited, Aelita knelt over on the bed, clutching her stomach. She felt it roiling again as the fretfulness and tension that collected in the room overwhelmed her brittle body.

"Yes. But, that's not all…before Franz virtualized himself onto Lyoko, he lived here… on Earth."

"We already knew that…"

Jeremie stared at the screen of his computer for a moment, his eyes closed as he collected his thoughts. Silence filled the room, making Aelita more uneasy. Would he just spit it out already? Jeremie sighed, and once again, spun his chair to face Yumi and Aelita.

"Franz Hopper was a part of something called project Carthage. It's why Sector 5 is nicknamed Carthage on the computer's interface. Lyoko was created as a staging ground of sorts, and XANA was meant to destroy this project. I don't know much more than that, but, someone was angry with him for wanting to do this. Franz was not alone, you know."

"Huh?" Yumi gaped. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he had a wife...her name was Anthea."

_Anthea… _Aelita thought to herself. _Why does that sound so familiar? _She held her head in agony as it began to throb. Cheerful laughter, giggling, and the calling of a mother's name echoed throughout her mind. She grunted at her throbbing temples.

"_Do you like him, sweetie?"_

"_Oh, thank you mummy!"_

"_Aelita, make sure you stay near the house, darling…"_

"_Mummy, look at my giant snowball!"_

"Aelita," Yumi asked as she patted her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Continue, Jeremie. Please."

"What became of Anthea, Jeremie?"

"She was kidnapped. Men started pursuing Franz after they found out what he was doing… and, well, they got to Anthea first. Leaving Franz and his little girl alone."

"Wait, little girl? And… what men?"

Jeremie turned his head to Aelita, glowering directly at her. Deeply and intensely, his look jabbing into her soul. She glanced back at him, her pupils locking with his, slight terror coursing throughout her veins. "Men dressed in all black," he described. "With sunglasses, even at night time. Government agents, maybe…"

"But… I…" Aelita stuttered, her mouth drooping open.

"What about the little girl, Jeremie?"

"He virtualized her onto Lyoko at the same time as him."

"And… did she become prisoner of XANA, too?"

"No. She stayed on Lyoko." Not once did Jeremie take his eyes off of Aelita.

Aelita said nothing. Stutters and chokes escaped her mouth, but nothing of any legibility. Just random vocalizations. Yumi grabbed both sides of her head, shaking.

"This is too much, Jeremie. So then… Aelita…"

"Aelita." Jeremie blankly stated, getting up from his chair and walking over to her. There was no emotion in his voice, neither happy nor sad. He appeared stern, yet also caring. Concerned and fearful. He squatted down in front of her.

"I'm… not…?" She dismayed, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You are the daughter of Franz Hopper…and the same men that took your mother are now after you."


	15. I Believe You

Aelita sluggishly rolled over and slammed her fist against the pillow, letting out a fretful sigh of despair. The exasperated whispers voyaged from her mouth to Jeremie's, and he whirled around his chair and curiously glanced over at her.

"Lita?" he gently spoke, trying not to break the peaceful silent of the frosty midnight atmosphere that settled in his room. "Why are you still awake?"

"I don't want to sleep."

His thin lips curled into a frown and he removed himself from the solid discomfort of his chair. Aelita lay in his bed, pressed into the corner of the wall with her back facing Jeremie. Jeremie sank into the foot of the bed and leaned backwards, applying pressure on his hands to keep himself upright.

"Why not?" he asked, glancing over at the exhausted girl.

"Because every time I close my eyes, I see his face. I'm tired of the nightmares." She continued to stare at the bare wall in front of her, tracing her fingers in circles along it's cold, compact surface.

"Aelita…" he said, scratching his head as he played around with the right possible words to say. Jeremie paused, and frowned again. "Mr. Puck doesn't help you sleep?"

She held the doll in her hands and sighed before tossing him to the side. "Sometimes. But not really," she quietly answered, disappointment tumbling off of her lips. The poor woman was drained. She had received not one night of rest since the incident, every moment vividly haunting her. Aelita had no escape.

Jeremie pressed his mouth into a fine line. The appropriate words were coming difficultly tonight, but he didn't want to end up saying nothing at all. "Well," he started, turning his head the other way. "What about me?"

Aelita trundled over, her drowsy doe-eyes glimmering up at Jeremie. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… do you think I could help you sleep?" He curved his head back towards Aelita, who was now slightly sitting upwards, leaning back on her elbows. She upraised an eyebrow at him, and he proximately regretted bringing it up.

"Well," she answered; confused. "You already do, by letting me sleep in your room and watching over me throughout the night."

"I know, I just meant that, well sometimes, when people are said, they just want someone to be close to them, and I figured maybe that… well you know, I mean…"

"But you are close to me, Jeremie. You're my best friend."

"I mean…like… I was just saying that… what if it were me next to you, instead of Mr. Puck?" Jeremie cringed at his words and mentally slapped himself across the face. He felt like a moron, as if he had completely invaded her privacy.

Aelita, on the other hand, did not mind. "I would like that, Jeremie." She daintily smiled at him before letting herself fall backwards onto the mattress, her head gently dipping into the pillow. She patted the empty spot next to her. The blonde was shocked that she wasn't even offended in the slightest, but the reality was that there was no reason she should be. Nonetheless, Jeremie always found a way to somehow put himself down when it came to the opposite sex. It was more as a result of how much he respected her and feared hurting or insulting her, not really so much that he was flat out afraid of her gender. His muscles locked up and prevented him from moving, although he more than wanted to join her side. A flood of red pigment collected on his face. Aelita simply giggled at him, and then forcefully cleared her throat, hoping to grab his attention. He snapped out of it after staring aimlessly for a moment, and then tumbled backwards into the warmth of the mattress. Immediately, Aelita nuzzled herself into him, clutching his arm tightly as if it were a stuffed animal. Jeremie let out a contented sigh of relief and rested his hand against the soft surface of Lita's glorious pink threads. He closed his eyes; letting himself float away from reality along with Aelita.

An hour or so later, a sudden gust of icy wind jolted Aelita out of her slumber. She awoke to the feeling, or lack of feeling, rather, of the numbness that overcame her little nose and slender fingers. Shivering, Lita bundled herself in the thick comforter as she raised her chilly body. The glowing clock on the nightstand read 3:23 A.M. It now seemed that sleep was a lost cause, whether or not Jeremie was there. Soft moonlight cast upon the barren carpet of Jeremie's room, the outline of the window settling on the wrinkles of the bed. Among the dark blueness of his room from the night sky, Aelita's pink hair still managed to shine.

She began to wonder where the cold was coming from. The air conditioning? No, at this time of year, all A/C units no longer switched on at night because the air outside was simply too frigid to trigger the units. Besides, those units were very loud, and Aelita only heard silence. Well, brief silence; it was soon interrupted by timid rustling. She looked towards the window to see Jeremie's white curtains swaying along the breeze. Of course, that had to have been the source of the low temperature in the room. The window was open.

Oh, no. That's exactly the problem. The window was… _open._

_Wide _open.

"Jeremie?" She whispered, staring at the opening to the outside world. "Why is the window open?" There was no response. Was he still asleep? "Jeremie," she called again, a bit louder. Again, Jeremie did not answer. She looked next to her to see nothing but a mess of sheets and blankets. Aelita was the only one in that room.

Or, so she thought.

"Jeremie!" She shouted, throwing around the pillows, searching for him. "Where did you go?" She chucked one of the pillows on the ground, turning back to the window. Frustrated and worried, Lita crawled out of the bed and ran to the window as if she were running from a ghost. Then, she noticed that the bolts on top were still turned.

The window was locked. It had been opened from the outside.

Her mouth dropped open, the vibrancy of her face washing away. Even the color of her hair seemed to fade as she poked her head out of the window and looked downwards, observing the empty grass of Kadic. There was no one outside, and no sign of forced entry. It was simply just… open. It didn't look as if anyone had deliberately shoved up the window, so then that must have meant that no one did. Aelita tried not to overwork herself and convince her of things that were plausibly not even real. She shut the window and turned around.

"Ahem," someone coughed from the dark crooks of the square room. She spun her quivering body around, her fretful eyes meeting the silhouette of a tall, looming figure standing before her. With each step backwards, he took one step forward. Just as he had done on that night.

"Je…Jer…" she stuttered, unable to complete her sentence.

"I thought I told you not to tell anyone? Don't bother calling for your boyfriend, he's not going to hear you."

Her gaping mouth trembled immensely, her throat spasming as it tried to force out words she just couldn't vocalize. "I…I'm sorry!" she silently cried. Fear patronized her body, sparks of terror travelling down her spine. The cold no longer bothered her, because the horror had caused her to sweat. The beads that trickled off of her forehead joined with the tears streaming down her eyes, the salty mixture burning her chapped lips.

"It's a little late for apologies," he boomed in a quiet, sultry voice. He squatted down in front of her as she collapsed against the wall, sinking onto her bottom. "What am I going to do with you, Ms. Schaeffer?"

"Please don't hurt me anymore," she tearfully begged, covering her face with clenched fists. He lowered himself onto his knees and leaned forward, brushing his thick bottom lip against her earlobe before whispering against her jawline.

"I promised that I'd make sure you'd regret it if you spilled your secret to anyone. You may have broken your promise, but I don't break mine." He slowly aimed his face in front of hers and titled his sunglasses downwards. Aelita knew she was dealing with the same man when she saw those same fuming irises, lumps of coals sitting in the whites of his eyes. And so, she screamed.

"Jeremie!" She urgently howled as she began to furiously shake the door handle. She was locked inside the room. It wouldn't turn, no matter how hard she tried. "JEREMIE! JEEEREMIIIEE!"

He stood there and watched, laughed even, as she pounded against the door in desperation. Suddenly, the entrance flung open and Aelita collapsed backwards onto the ground.

"Aelita?!" Jeremie cried out, running to her side as she trembled on the carpet. "Aelita, my God! What happened?!"

Aelita crawled into his arms as he kneeled down next to her, choking through sobs. "Where did you go!?" she wailed.

"I went to the bathroom; I was only gone for a minute, Aelita… what's wrong?"

"LOOK!" She screamed, pointing behind her.

"What am I looking for?" he inquired, curiously poking his head around. There was no one there. Aelita snapped her head around, rubbing her wrist against her wet eyes.

"But…but…he…"

"There's no one there, 'Lita. You had another bad drea-"

"NO!" she ragingly cut him off. "It wasn't a dream, Jeremie! I woke up and the window was open! It was _wide _open, Jeremie! And then I turned around and he was there! I felt his breath on my neck, Jeremie, it was _not _a dream. He's mad at me for telling. I knew I shouldn't have said anything, but you wouldn't listen to me! He's going to hurt me again, and probably you, too!"

"Aelita, please, try to calm down. I know nightmares can feel very real, but-"

Aelita became furious. She pressed her hands into Jeremie's chest and shoved him away from her as hard as she could. "Why don't you believe me?" she pleaded.

"Aelita…"

"I know what I saw. He was here. But you don't believe me…" she curled into a ball against his dresser and started to whimper, heartbreaking snuffles sneaking out of her throat. She curled her head downwards, resting it against arms that she folded on top of her knees. Jeremie sat and watched her mourn. He watched her worn body shake with pure terror. Each cry from her unsteady lips chipped a piece off of his heart, and he couldn't believe that he had tried to doubt her right in front of her face. His eyes welled up; a single droplet that glimmered in the light of the moon crept down his cheek. He just wanted her to be happy again. He wanted her to stop hurting. Sometimes, he felt he was only making things worse. Jeremie, filled with regret, walked over to her and then knelt back down by her side again.

"I believe you," he uttered, caringly staring into her glossed eyes.

"Really?" she sniffed, wiping her nose. As usual, Jeremie took it upon himself to dry the tears from her cheeks.

"Yes."

She half-smiled at him, before the emotion quickly became replaced with a grimace. "Jeremie, I'm scared."

"There's no need to be. I'm right here."

"I can't get away from him, Jeremie. He's not just in my dreams anymore. I don't feel safe."

"You are safe, 'Lita. Nobody will hurt you as long as I'm with you. I'll make sure of it."

"You can't possibly spend twenty four hours of the day with me, Jeremie…"

"Of course I can. And if that's what it takes to protect you, then I certainly will. Nobody hurts my angel and gets away with it."

"You… think I'm an angel?"

"Absolutely. And even angels need someone to watch over them sometimes."

Aelita blushed, shyly smiling at him before bashfully burying herself into his chest for comfort. Jeremie always took this as an invite to wrap his arms around her, and that was exactly what she wanted right now.

"Thank you," she whispered against his collared shirt.

Jeremie leaned down next to her ear, his words quietly vibrating off of his lips. "Anything for you, sweetheart." The warmth from Aelita's blush sent her back to sleep.


	16. Interrogations

"Now what?" Aelita enquiringly asked as she gently snuck through the door into Jeremie's room, joining Yumi's side on the bed.

"We wait," she replied, chewing on her oversized black sleeves out of boredom. Jeremie heeded no attention to either; he was busy working on decoding the rest of Franz Hopper's diary.

"How long?" The nervous woman held the stick eye-level, twirling it in her fingers.

"Ummm…" Yumi reached over and grabbed the box that sat at the end of the bed. She peered closer to read the instructions. "3-5 minutes."

They all sat in silence, with the frantic tapping of Jeremie's keyboard being the only sound to fill the room. Yumi laid on the bed backwards, her neck and midnight hair swiftly hanging over the edge. Aelita tensely sat with her legs crossed, staring at the small stick. The minutes ticked by excruciatingly slow.

"How long has it been?" The anxious pinkette asked, her eyes still glued onto the plastic twig.

Jeremie has been listening to their conversation, even though he appeared completely focused on the glowing screen in front of him. He checked his watch. "One minute."

Both girls sighed, Yumi burying her hands into her face. Aelita sat on the bed with her stomach twisting and her heart thrashing, she was almost sweating from the nerve-wrecking sensation. Suddenly, a banging on the door distracted all three.

"Yoo-hoo! Anybody in there!?" It was Odd, who quickly took it upon himself to walk inside the room. Yumi shot off of the bed.

"Quick!" She screamed to Aelita. "Hide it!"

"Oh! Uh…" she stuffed it beneath the pillow, the first place that caught her eye. Odd bounced into the room with a goofy smile on his face, as usual.

"Hey zombies!" He gleefully greeted. "I haven't heard from any of you in a while, it's like you disappeared off of the face of the Earth."

"We've been busy," all three replied in unison. Skeptical, Odd raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.

"Yeah, sure. Well, Ulrich and I are going to see a movie tonight. We want you all to come. Especially you, Aelita. You need to get out. Put a smile on your face, will ya?"

Aelita frowned, and Jeremie gave Odd a slight albeit subtle glare.

"Well that depends on what's playing," Yumi requested.

"Paranormal Activity 4!"

"Uh," she groaned, scratching her head. "And… Ulrich is going to be there?"

"Yeeeesss," Odd playfully sung, leaning into Yumi's face. She backed away nervously.

"Okay, I'll go."

"Sweet! Now what about you two?" Odd spun around, glancing at Jeremie first and then Aelita.

"No thanks," Aelita quietly declined.

"Aww, come on, princess! It'll be fun! Besides, Jeremie will be there if ya get scared."

Jeremie blushed, but then snapped back. "Hey! Who said I was going?"

"Oh come on, guys," Odd whined, placing his hands on his hips. "Besides school, Ulrich and I never see you anymore. It's like you formed your own little group without us. We just want to hang out again, all 5 of us, like we used to."

Jeremie looked to the side, sulking a bit. Odd was right, they never hung out as friends anymore, and he missed it. "Well… I'll go if Aelita goes. I'm not going to leave her here alone."

"Don't let me ruin your fun, Jeremie."

"You're not ruining my fun, Aelita. But I think Odd is right; maybe it would be good for us to all go out together."

Aelita bit her lip, toying with the thought in her head. "I'll think about it," she sighed.

"Great! Meet us at our dorm at 7. See you all tonight!"

"But!" Aelita perked up as Odd rushed out of the door. "I only said I'd think about it!"

"Aelita," Yumi scooted next to her, placing her hand on her shoulder. "I think it would be good for you to go see this movie. You spend your days cooped up in your room, and I don't think it's healthy."

Aelita played with her thumbs, staring at her lap and sighing. "I don't know, Yumi."

"Aelita," Jeremie released himself from his chair, sitting next to her on the opposite side of Yumi. "She's right, you know."

"But…"

"Shhh," Jeremie whispered, taking both of her hands in the warmth of his grasps and rubbing them soothingly. "Hey. It'll be okay, 'Lita. You'll have all of us with you. Nothing will happen, I promise."

Again, Aelita sighed. She stared at her hands and the way Jeremie brushed his thumb caringly against her skin. She was reluctant. Maybe it was a good idea, but still, she was reluctant. She looked up at Jeremie, and in her eyes he could not only see, but feel, and even taste the fear that settled inside her heart.

Yumi stood up and stretched her arms. "I think I'll give you two a moment alone, ring me when you've figured out what you guys wanna do." She gave a friendly wave and headed out the door, leaving it cracked slightly. Jeremie turned his attention back towards Aelita, and tilted her chin towards his face.

"Aelita, you know I'm never going to let anything bad happen to you again."

"Yeah," she said with the faintest glimmer of a smile spreading on her pale, pink lips. "I know."

"I think this would be good for you. I don't want to see you keep hurting. So go out with us tonight and try to have fun. Please?"

Aelita pondered for a moment, staring at Jeremie as she pressed her index finger against her petite mouth. Finally, she delicately shut her eyes and took a great breath; deeply exhaling before looking back into Jeremie's gaze. "Okay."

Jeremie let out a sigh of relief and grinned at her. "Aelita, you know I care about you," he lowered his voice and quietly spoke, as if he were attempting to avoid the possibility of anyone hearing him. He fleetingly glanced at the cracked door before redirecting his regard to Aelita.

"Of course."

"I mean, I really care about you."

"I know, Jeremie." She smiled at him timidly, but felt the slight grasp of his hands in hers becoming tighter. Jeremie locked his eyes on her, staring directly into the sparkling emeralds on her face.

"Aelita, I…" Jeremie hesitated as Aelita curiously leaned in closer to him. She raised her eyebrows at him, wondering what caused his change in demeanor. The woman, intrigued at his sudden edginess, sternly gaped at his mouth as his words froze; it almost appeared as if he were trying to produce an 'l' sound before ceasing his sentence. Jeremie felt himself growing warm, especially his face, and his heart began to thud inside his tight chest.

"You what, Jeremie?" The two sat only inches away from each other, and as she spoke Jeremie could feel her breath against his face.

"I… um…" He stuttered, a heavy blush spreading across his cheekbones. "I… am very hungry," he suddenly said, pushing himself away from Aelita and turning to face the other direction. "So, we should go get something to eat."

"Oh," Aelita reacted, confused and a bit surprised. "Well, okay." Jeremie, almost thankful, happily took her hand and led her out the door. They rushed down the hall and to the cafeteria with growling stomachs, eager for a hearty meal. When Jeremie shut the door behind him in a hurry, unknowingly to him it bounced backwards, and as a result did not close completely. It was left slightly cracked, as before when Yumi had left.

A few moments later, a happy and giddy yipping was travelling down the empty hallway before Odd's bouncing terrier butted his way into Jeremie's room. It seems today was a day where the warriors neglected to lock their doors; as Kiwi had escaped when Odd left to shower. The little bull terrier curiously snooped around, sniffing everything in front of him and sticking his long nose where it didn't belong. A certain scent from the bed was drawing him in. Kiwi hopped onto Jeremie's bed, burrowing under the blankets and the pillow. Under the pillow, the inquiring doggy found something that greatly intrigued him. The same plastic stick from before had been left under the pillow when Odd barged into the room, and Yumi, Aelita and Jeremie had completely forgotten. Seeing it as a toy to play fetch with later, he released a small bark and ran back to his master's room with the stick in his mouth.

"Kiwi!" Odd joyfully shouted as his puppy ran into his room. "There you are! My little diggity dog!" He scooped the terrier up and cradled him in his arms before noticing the object in his mouth. "Huh? What ya got there, boy?" Kiwi barked and squeezed out of Odd's grasp, dropping the item at his feet. Perplexed, Odd bent down and picked it up.

"What the? Kiwi, where did you find this?"

The dog barked in response and ran to Odd's desk, pulling out a photo. He dropped it at his owner's feet and continued to irritatingly yip. When Odd picked up the picture, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Jeremie?! You found this in Jeremie's room!?"

Again, Kiwi barked. He then proceeded to his bed that had been made inside Odd's dresser and curled up.

"Oh wow, I don't believe it! But… who's could it be? Let's see… who was in Jeremie's room earlier… Holy crap!"

"Hey good buddy, whatcha got there?" Ulrich asked as he returned from the shower, scrunching his soaking hair with the towel.

"Oh, I don't know… you tell me, Ulrich," Odd teased as he threw the stick at Ulrich. "So what have you and Yumi been up to, huh?"

"What the… a pregnancy test!? Where did you get this?!"

"Kiwi brought it to me. He found it in Jeremie's room."

"And how do you know where Kiwi found it? Did you see him?"

"Well, he told me. He's a smart diggity dog."

"Right… there's no way this is Yumi's. Why would she need it?"

"You tell me, good buddy. The only people in his room today where Yumi and Aelita," Odd winked as he patted Ulrich on the shoulder. "Your blush says it all."

"What!? No! Yumi and I haven't done that! We're just good friends!"

"What, do you expect me to believe it's Aelita's, then? Jeremie isn't exactly a ladies man, you know."

Ulrich stood in disbelief and scratched his head furiously, trying to figure out the source of the test. "What does it say, anyway?"

"I don't know. There's just a line."  
"Well what does that mean?"

"How should I know!? Hey, if you and Yumi haven't been doing the tango, then maybe you might want to figure out what William's been up to, huh?"

Ulrich angrily knocked Odd in the shoulder. "That's not funny, Odd."

"I know, I know," he apologetically replied as he rubbed his aching arm. "But seriously; maybe she got tired of waiting for you to make a move."

Ulrich stared furiously at the pregnancy test that sat in his fingers. He furrowed his brow, rage coursing through him at the idea of Yumi being with William. "Do you think I should talk to her?"

Odd shrugged. "Do whatever you think is right. Just try to not lose your temper, grumpy pants."

"Hey! I am not grumpy!" Ulrich spat at Odd before slamming the door behind him. Odd merely chuckled.

Nearly shaking with fury, Ulrich stormed down the hallway and to Aelita's room. He assumed that was where Yumi would be, if anywhere, because she was always stuck to Aelita like glue as of late. Or perhaps it was the other way around. It was more so that Aelita was the one sticking like glue. Superglue, at that.

"Hey, Yumi?" Ulrich knocked on the wooden door to Aelita's room. Unsurprisingly, Yumi opened the door. He was right in his assumptions.

"How did you know I was in here?" She questioned, slightly astounded, but pleased to see him nonetheless. Ulrich, however, did not return the same friendly gestures. She could feel the heat from his anger radiating off of his body. "Ulrich? What's the matter?"

"This is where you always are now a days. It's like you're Aelita's guardian angel or something. Is she in there?"

"No, her and Jeremie went out to lunch."

"Good. I need to talk to you."

"Uh… okay," Yumi shut the door behind her as Ulrich ragingly helped himself into the room. He threw the pregnancy test down onto the counter before her.

"What is this?" He demanded, coldly glaring at her.

Yumi leaned down and quickly recognized what the small, plastic object was. "Oh, no!" she shrieked, stepping backwards. Her eyes glossed over with terror and her skin flushed completely white. "Where did you get that?"

"Kiwi found it in Jeremie's room, and brought it to Odd, who showed it to me. Well? I know for sure I'm not the reason you took that."

"Wh-what!? Ulrich, it's not for me!"

"Oh yeah? Then who's it for? You and Aelita were the only girls in that room who could've taken this."

"Maybe it was taken a different day? I-I don't know who's it is! It isn't mine! Ulrich, trust me!"

"_Do whatever you think is right. Just try not to lose your temper." _Odd's voice echoed inside Ulrich's head, and for once, he actually decided to listen to him. Still reluctant, but not wanting to argue, he sighed; letting the tense nerves in his body relax. "Okay, Yumi. If you say it isn't yours, I believe you."

Yumi appeared almost shocked at his calm demeanor. It wasn't usually like Ulrich, honestly. However, she was thankful. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. You don't know who's it is?"

Yumi shook her head, but bit her lip at the same time. Ulrich knew she was hiding something. "Yumi, are you okay?" he caringly asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Huh? Yes, why?"

"Well, you've been acting weird lately… you don't leave Aelita or Jeremie's side and you seem like you're hiding something."

"I'm okay, really. Thanks though." She turned to walk away, but Ulrich grabbed her hand and stopped her. Yumi looked down at the intertwined hands, and looked back up at the brunette.

"Yumi, you know if there's ever a problem, you can talk to me about it."

Yumi smiled at him, removing her hand. "Thanks, Ulrich. But I'm okay, really."

"Okay. I care about you, Yumes. So don't feel like you have to hide from me."

Yumi perked up an eyebrow at Ulrich. "What did you just call me?"

"Oh, Um… Sorry. I guess it's just a name I came up with."

Yumi timorously smirked, a trifling blush sneaking onto her pale cheeks. "I like it."

Ulrich smiled back at her. "I'm glad," he whispered.

"Hey, Ulrich?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, just out of curiosity, what's it say?"

"Um… there's one line."

"Oh, thank God!"

"What!?"

"Nothing! I've got to study, so bye now!" Yumi, flustered and nervous, shoved Ulrich out of the room. He had now reverted back to being completely skeptical of her.

"Well that was handled poorly," Yumi mumbled to herself.

Ulrich left Aelita's room, and immediately headed down to Jeremie's. Something was up, and he wasn't going to let his crush on Yumi interfere with getting the answers he wanted. The test was in Jeremie's room to begin with, so more than likely, Jeremie knew what was going on.

"Hey, Jeremie? Are you in there?" Ulrich asked, scratching his knuckles against the door. To his surprise, the door opened.

"Hey, Ulrich. What's happening?" Jeremie opened the door wider, inviting him inside.

"Where's Aelita?"

"Sleeping. She's in her room. I think Yumi might be with her but I'm not sure."

"Um, why is it that Aelita can't seem to ever be left alone lately?"

Jeremie paused in his tracks, swallowing harshly. He readjusted his glasses and turned to face Ulrich. "Uh, I don't know. I guess girls are just clingy sometimes."

"Hmm. Hey, Einstein, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Ulrich," Jeremie confirmed as he sat down in front of his computer to continue the work that had been so many times interrupted.

"Do you know anything about, oh, I don't know… this?" Ulrich threw the test onto Jeremie's keyboard. Flabbergasted, Jeremie jumped backwards in his chair.

"Oh, no!" He screamed; exactly as Yumi had done. "Where- um, where did you find that?"

Ulrich scratched his chin, intrigued by his reaction. "In _your _room, Jeremie."

"What were you doing snooping around my room?"

"I didn't; Odd's dog did. And Kiwi brought to Odd, who showed it to me."

Jeremie smacked his palm against his forehead. "This is a disaster," he muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. Um, I don't know who's it is. And I certainly don't know why I was in my room. Now, I'm busy, I need to decode this diary. So if you'll please leave me alone."

"Jeremie, I know that you know about this."

"Ulrich, do you honestly think I got some girl pregnant?" Jeremie spun around in his chair, crossing his arms. "Is that was this is about? I don't even have time for that stuff; I've got my work cut out for me! Especially with decoding this diary and finding Aelita's anti-virus."

"Well, you and Aelita have been pretty close lately."

Jeremie's jaw dropped. "Augh! Are you serious right now!? For one, the answer is no way absolutely not! But second of all, even if I was, why would it matter!? What Aelita and I do or don't do is none of your business."

"Maybe I wasn't talking about Aelita." Ulrich wrinkled his brows at Jeremie.

"Uh, what are you getting at?"

"Nothing. I don't know. I'll see you later, Jeremie." Ulrich, still unsatisfied, but now even more suspicious, left the room and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

"Well?" Odd asked as Ulrich fumed into their dorm. "Did you find anything out?"

"Neither Yumi nor Jeremie spilled the beans, and I couldn't find Aelita but I honestly can't see her needing this anyway. She probably doesn't even know what that is." Ulrich threw himself backwards onto the bed, resting his arms behind his head. He let out a heavy, defeated sigh.

"Hmmm," Odd thought out loud. "Maybe it's just a prank, then."

"Maybe…" Ulrich sat up and looked over at Odd. "I did notice something weird, though…"

"Oh yeah? What would that be?"

Ulrich paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Jeremie and Yumi had the same exact reaction when I confronted them about the test. They both freaked out, and said 'oh, no.' Yumi even asked me what it said, and I'm pretty sure I heard Jeremie mumble how much of a disaster this was."

"You don't think…that…they're connected?"

Ulrich shrugged, staring at his hands that lazily laid In his lap.

"You think that maybe…Jeremie…and…Yumi!?"

Ulrich looked back up at Odd.


	17. Disaster

"Aelita?" Yumi softly whispered, oh so gently sneaking the door open and peering through the crack. The lights were off, and the mellow, orange hue from the evening sky cast upon the snoozing lump in the bed. As she opened the door further, sitting in a chair was a boy who's face had been illuminated by the humming glare of his laptop's screen. He looked at Yumi and pressed his index finger against his lips, urging her to speak quietly. "How long as she been out?" Yumi mumbled through her sleeve as she approached Jeremie in the corner of the room. He was sitting by the window, occasionally peering outside to be sure that _he _wasn't there.

"About half an hour. It's the longest I've seen her sleep in a while." He spoke without looking away from his computer.

"Still working on the diary?"

"Yes. We're lucky I got as far as I did. Things have slowed down since then, there's a couple entries I'm still missing."

"Ah. Well, Jeremie, I came here to talk to you." She kneeled down by his side so that they were ear-level, and could better hear each other among quiet whispers. Jeremie turned his attention towards the Japanese girl, pressing his glasses upwards as they slid down his sweating nose. Yumi cleared her throught. "We have a problem, Jeremie."

"Are you thinking the same thing I am?"

"About the pregnancy test?"

Jeremie nodded. "So Ulrich came to you, too, then?"

"Uh-huh. And what's worse, he thought I was the one that took it. I don't need him getting more jealous than he already does."

Jeremie rested his finger and thumb against his chin as he tossed the thought around in his head. "He's also onto the fact that it's Aelita's," Jeremie paused. "Unfortunately… he thinks I'm the one who's the reason she took it."

"Oh, this is such a mess," Yumi sank onto her tailbone and buried her face in her palms. "Jeremie, what are we going to do?"

Jeremie closed his laptop and sighed. "I don't know, Yumi. I don't know. Do you think we should tell them?"

"No way."

Jeremie continued to think, but a rapid and loud bang on the door knocked his train of thought off of it's tracks.

"Jeremie, Yumi, we know you're in there!" Odd shouted from the other side, along with Ulrich. Aelita stirred in her sleep and moaned as she crawled out from underneath her blanket.

"What… what's going on?"

Ulrich flung the door open, his breathing heavy and his muscles tense. Odd stood by him gratefully, switching on the light before resting his hand on his hip. Aelita grunted at the stinging of the light and scrunched her weary eyelids.

"You've thrown us a real curve ball, Einstein," Odd sarcastically spat.

"Huh?" Jeremie stood up from the chair, Yumi joining his side. "What are you talking about?"

Ulrich pulled the pregnancy test out of his pocket. "This was in your room, Jeremie. When this was found, the only other girls who had been in your room were Yumi and Aelita. You've been awfully close with both of them lately, and we both know that this test isn't Aelita's."

Aelita stared at the test in Ulrich's hands, her eyes shooting open wide. She certainly was no longer tired. Although she wanted to protest, she couldn't find the right words to say; and so she sat in her bed and stared. Yumi and Jeremie both shared a session of heavy blushing at Ulrich's vulgar and absurd assumption.

"Wait! You think that… that Yumi and I… have?"

Ulrich responded with a cold glare; folding his arms. Odd returned the same gesture.

"That's absolutely ridiculous!" Jeremie defended.

"Gross!" Yumi cried. "Ulrich! How could you honestly believe something like that!?"

"What on Earth is going on!?" Aelita cried out as she raised herself from the bed.

"Aelita, you should probably leave," Odd calmly said to her, attempting to escort her out of the dorm. Aelita angrily took his hand off of her, snapping at Odd.

"No!" She demanded. "This is _my _room, so I'm not going anywhere! You all have helped yourself into my bedroom while I was sleeping and woken me up with your absurd arguments. Now someone is going to tell me what is going on right now! Ulrich, what is that in your hand!?"

Ulrich blushed. "Um, err, well…"

Aelita stormed over to him and snatched it out of his hand. "Where did you get this?"

"Ask Jeremie." He nudged towards him, and Jeremie furiously folded his arms, scoffing at Ulrich.

"Is it the one I left in your room earlier, Jeremie?"

Jeremie dropped his arms and gaped at Aelita. "Wh…what?"

"Aelita!" Yumi cried, mentally begging her to stop. Aelita smirked and turned towards Ulrich and Odd.

"It's mine. Are you happy? I just wanted to make sure, that's all. It's negative. There's nothing to get so worked up about. I can't believe you honestly thought Jeremie and Yumi…"

"But… Aelita! You? What?!" Odd stuttered, pulling at his hair.

"How do you even know what that is?" Ulrich gawked.

"I may not be human, but I can sure act like one," she winked. "And this is none of your business, so next time, I suggest you avoid snooping around.

"Holy _crap" _Ulrich and Odd mumbled in unison. Yumi and Jeremie remained speechless.

"Wow! What a scoop!"

All five turned around to see the two familiar little girls standing in the doorway, camera in one hand and journal in the other. The flash went off, catching the astounded and horrified looks of all of the Lyoko warriors.

"Milly! Oh, no! What are you doing here!?" Aelita cried, the stick slipping out of her hand.

"We came by to ask Aelita some questions and figure out why she's been acting so weird lately, and we sure got what we wanted!" Tamiya eagerly replied. "A bun in the oven now _that's _something our Kadic readers will _love _to hear!"

"Tamiya NO!" Yumi cried out. "You can't put this in the paper!"

"Why not? This is the best news we've ever had!"

"And who would've thought our very own valedictorian had the nerve? Good going, Jeremie!" Milly happily scribbled in her journal.

"But! I! No!" Jeremie stuttered, his glasses falling off his face. "It's not like that!"

"That's not what this picture says," Tamiya teased as she waved the Polaroid in the air. "This explains why you two have been stuck like glue lately."

Jeremie smacked his hand against his sweating forehead, anxiety rippling through his body. As if the mess wasn't big enough already, it had now become even more catastrophic. Milly and Tamiya winked at the five before skipping down the hallway. The evidence had gotten away from them, and they were all officially screwed over.

Yumi, Jeremie, Aelita, Ulrich, and finally Odd, all stood petrified in their positions; frantic eyes locked on the empty door frame. Yumi's sleeves had become sodden with her saliva as she nervously chewed on them. Jeremie was too stunned to pick up his glasses, and the others simply had no idea what to say.

"I am beyond confused," Odd softly spoke, breaking the tenseness of the air.


	18. Emergency

**reviewreviewreviewreviewrevi ew**

The fleeing footsteps of the two girls quickly pattered down the hallway and then disappeared, followed by the slamming of the hallway door. Baffled, Ulrich stared and scratched his head. "Well," he spoke in bewilderment, turning to the others. "Only one thing to do now."

"Oh yeah?" Odd pressed two of his fingers against his lips, standing by the brunette's side and staring in the peering in the same direction. "What's that?"

Ulrich smirked and looked towards the door. "AFTER THEM!" He shouted, bursting down the hallway.

"Wha- hey! Ulrich! Wait up!" Odd's voice trailed down the hallway as he sprinted after his charging friend. The same pattern followed; the lingering sound of footsteps quickly trailing away and then the slamming of the door. Now that they were gone, Jeremie reached down to pick up his glasses and calmly brushed them off. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before toddling over to the door and smoothly shutting it. He turned towards Aelita, cleared his throat, and adjusted his glasses.

"AELITA!" he ruptured. "_Why _did you tell them that!? What on Earth were you thinking?!"

She stepped back, startled by his heightened voice. Yumi grabbed her shoulders and stood behind her, ready to comfort her if Aelita happened to take his words too harshly. The words blew at her like a hurricane, but she merely stared at him; confused as to where the anger was coming from.

"I'm sorry, Jeremie…" she looked down at the floor. "I just didn't want them to know the truth. Not yet, at least."

"Right, well you think _this _is better!?" He tugged at his frazzled, fair locks. Aelita chewed on the corner of her bottom lip.

"Jeremie, calm down," Yumi begged.

The frustrated, golden-haired boy pressed the back of his hand against his sweating brow, taking another lungful. "You should have at least asked me first, Aelita. I don't want people to think I'm… doing that stuff."

"But Yumi told me that people who like each other do that. We like each other, don't we? So what's the problem if people think that then?" Aelita shrugged and raised her little pink eyebrows. Oh, so naïve. Jeremie's face flushed heavily, but the redness was quickly washed away as he turned to shoot Yumi a glare. Yumi responded with an uneasy shrug, lightly and nervously tittering.

The blonde smacked his hand against his forehead and let out an unsatisfied sigh. "It's a bit more complicated than that, Aelita."

"How?" Her shining doe-eyes widened in curiosity, sparkling with the desire for knowledge. Again, Jeremie sighed.

"We'll save that for another day. We have a bigger problem to worry about, for the moment." Still confused, Aelita turned towards Yumi who gave a friendly nod and patted her shoulder. Aelita responded with another uninformed shrug. She decided to drop the subject and go with the flow for now.

"You're not too mad at me, are you, Jeremie?" She bashfully asked, peering upwards as her head tilted towards the pale carpet. Jeremie smiled.

"No," he said. "Of course not. I'm sorry I yelled." Thankful, Aelita walked up to him and Jeremie immediately invited her in for a hug.

"Okay, you guys…" Yumi interrupted. "Now, what are we going to do about Milly and Tamiya?" Just as Yumi mentioned their names, chattering and pleading was heard from down the hallway.

"Give it back!" Ulrich demanded as Milly swooped by their open door, scurrying down the opposite end of the hall. Ulrich quickly followed.

"No way!" The little red-head retorted. Tamiya soon followed, snickering as Odd desperately charged after her.

"Tamiya, I swear!" He threatened, his heavy purple shoes thudding against the carpet. Yumi rested her case and turned back to the others.

"Well?" she said, impatiently tapping her foot as the two men and two girls came hastening past the door again.

"I have an idea," Jeremie suggested, quirking up an eyebrow with an artful smirk on his face.

"What is it?"

"Simple. It requires a trip to the factory, so we'd better get going!" Jeremie started towards his door, but Yumi clutched her fingers against his bony shoulder and stopped him in his tracks. He turned to her, muddled.

"Wait a minute, are you talking about a return to the past?"

"Well, yeah. It'll solve this situation."

"Might I remind you that each return trip makes XANA stronger?"

Jeremie rubbed his arm coyly. "Well, yes… but, it's just one time. And besides, the guy that's after Aelita is posing more of a threat than-"

"More of a threat than an evil artificial intelligence trying to take over the world!?"

Jeremie cleared his throat. "I'm still protecting the world, in a sense."

"Uh-huh, and, how, exactly?"

Jeremie pulled Yumi to the corner of the room and spoke in whispers, while Aelita was distractingly staring out of her window. "Because to me, Aelita _is _the world. And by doing this, we refrain from word about her situation getting out. Which in turn protects her. XANA has been quiet, to our benefit. I've got to use his silence to my advantage and keep Aelita safe."

Yumi glanced over at Aelita, still peeping out the window. Her shoulders perched on the solid, marble sill and she used her fingers to pry open the blinds. The woman turned her attention back towards Jeremie and heaved a sigh. "Jeremie," she whispered, her pupils darting back to Aelita. "Don't you think it's time she told a higher authority?"

"Yeah." Jeremie sunk his hands into the pockets of his khakis. "I do. But, I can't force her."

"I know. Well, we'd better hurry to the factory then."

Immediately, they burst out of the door. It is the first time Aelita has been off campus since the incident; save for the one XANA attack that brought them to the factory about a month ago. Her mind begins to wander as they sprint through the swift breeze of the cold, fall air. She wondered why XANA isn't attacking. It made her body shiver; she feared that he's plotting something greater during his vow of silence. She then became anxious as she darted her head around in each direction, fearing that somewhere, somehow, he was following. Aelita wished that she had stayed behind in her room, but perhaps that was more dangerous than being outside. At least out here she had friends with her. She hopped onto her scooter and trailed behind Jeremie and Yumi, rolling down the sewers. The factory came sooner than she had imagined, finding her feet tapping against the familiar concrete of the bridge. Her legs burn as they brush against the rough frays of the heavy rope. Jeremie hurdles down to the laboratory and throws himself onto the chair.

"Return to the past, now!"

The blonde slams his index finger onto the oversized return button on the keyboard. The white bubble engulfs the soft Earth, warping everything in sight backwards. The five warriors are once again in Aelita's room, but this time, without the arguing.

"… A return to the past?" Ulrich curiously looks around, wondering why time had repeated itself. Jeremie craftily nods; content with his decision.

"We really dodged a bullet there," Odd poked as he relaxed on Aelita's cushiony mattress.

Ulrich chewed on his fingernail for a moment, turning to Aelita and raising an eyebrow. "So, Aelita… that test… it's really yours?"

"Yes," The girl replied without hesitation. She wasn't lying that way; after all, it _was _hers.

Ulrich widened his eyes and toyed with the grotesque thought, almost spitting at the image in his head. He turned to Jeremie. "So… you… and Jeremie-"

"No," she coldly cut him off. "Not Jeremie."

"What?" Odd and Ulrich gasped in harmony, while Jeremie and Yumi stood back and prepared. They both knew what she was planning.

"The truth, guys…." Aelita crossed her arms behind her back, exhaling deeply as she kicked her feet around. "is that-"

"Hey, Aelita!" The cheery voice squealed from behind.

"Not again…" Yumi groaned, sinking her head.

"Can we ask you a few questions?" Milly approached Aelita gleefully, flipping open her notebook. Tamiya stood by her side loyally, aiming her eyes through the viewfinder of the camera.

"Now is really not a good time, Milly," Aelita sighed.

"Well," Milly groaned; her voice distorting. "You'll just have to _make _time."

"What!?"

An electrical surge shot out of the petite palms of Milly's hands, forcing Aelita against the wall. She cried out in despair as the others dodged the jolt. Milly and Tamiya let their journalism accessories crash to the floor as they aggressively began to approach the Lyoko warriors. In their pupils flashed the staticy target of their friend who had decided to come out of hiding.

"Well well well," Odd said as he picked up a chair to block another wired shock. "Look who finally decided to show up! We missed you, buddy!"

"See!" Yumi cried as she rolled across the floor, looking at Jeremie. "I told you return trips only make him stronger!"

"Well, what else did you want me to do!?" Jeremie repelled as he snuck over to Aelita's side, who lay weakly against the wall, moaning. He grabbed underneath her arms and flung her over his shoulders. "Come on, we have to go!"

"I'll stay here," Odd offered as he proceeded to kick Milly across the room.

"Me too," his brunette friend joined his side, positioning for attack. "The rest of you get to the tower. Hurry!"

Jeremie nodded, and dashed out of the door with Yumi by his side. It was difficult to make it to the factory with a half-conscious girl lying limply over his back, but with the help of the geisha woman he was able to manage. Aelita pitifully groaned as she bounced up and down on his shoulders, becoming nauseous from the quick pace of their steps.

"Where are we going?" she mumbled.

"To the factory, XANA is attacking."

"Oh. Okay," Aelita put simply before falling unconscious again. Once across the bridge, they stared at the plummet beneath them, wondering how they would get Aelita down the ropes.

"I'll go first," Yumi demanded as she began to skid down the rough edges of the cables. "Throw her."

"What!?"

"I'll catch her, don't worry!"

"I'm not gonna throw her!"

Yumi dropped onto the stiff concrete of the solemn factory, the thunder of her feet reverberating throughout the emptiness. She looked up at Jeremie and shouted, "DO IT, JEREMIE!"

Reluctant, he obeyed, and tightly shut his eyes as he regretfully tossed his angel downwards. Her body gracefully twirled mid-air until safely landing in the grasp of Yumi's cradling arms. Jeremie heaved a massive sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off of his brow before sliding down the cable. They rushed to the elevator, where they soon parted ways. The girls to the scanners, and Einstein to the lab. He placed the headset over his brainy head and started up the process which had been done so many times before.

"Transfer, Scanner, Virtualization!"

Yumi tumbled onto the cool, green paths of Lyoko. "It's all good," she confirmed over the interface. "Aelita and I made it okay."

"Good," Jeremie replied, rapidly typing in coordinates. "The tower is directly ahead. Go for it!"

Aelita had landed on her back, and she slowly rose herself as she rubbed her lower torso and tailbone, which would most likely be throbbing if she were to be on Earth at that moment. Yumi helped her up, and they made way towards the omniscient shade of red that bubbled in the distance. Swarms of monsters soon followed, but they were having luck on this day. A few fans perfectly aimed and the hornets burst, their virtual parts disintegrating in the stale atmosphere of the alternate universe. Aelita had dropped on her knees to create a barrier, blocking off the weak and frail Kankrelats that desperately tried to keep up with them.

"Hey," Aelita panted as she sped North. "That orb… where is it?"

"That's strange," Jeremie said, scratching his chin. "Well, we know you're not pregnant, so I guess it really was just a bug as I had originally predicted."

Shrugging it off, Yumi stood guard as Aelita morphed into the tower; it's soft walls rippling upon her entrance. She was cast into the current of the building and floated upwards, tilting her petite frame backwards as to avoid smacking herself against the second platform. Once she was at her destination, she placed her palm tenderly against the levitating touch screen, which quickly recognized her and input the code. The return to the past was automatically generated.

Once again, the Lyoko warriors were inside Aelita's room. Although this time, something was different. Very horrendously and gruesomely different.

"AUGH!" Aelita painfully cried out as she crashed against her floor. "Oh my God, what's happening to me!?" She clutched her stomach as she let out blood curdling screams of agony. Red liquid rapidly spread down her legs, a puddle quickly forming beneath her.

"What's wrong!?" Yumi begged, kneeling down beside Aelita as she felt her convulse and heavily sweat. "My…stomach! Oh, God!" Tears began to flow out of her eyes and the color began to steadily drain. She curled into a ball and let out a most horrifying screech; brash enough for children from other dorms to flash to the door. Of course Milly and Tamiya were there, with Tamiya speedily taking photos of the situation. Ulrich turned around, staring at the group of students that mumbled and crowded around the frame.

"Quick!" He demanded, as the small woman shuddered against the floor and expelled a heart wrenching mixture of both tearful sobs and shrills of angst. "Go get some help!"

**dontforgettoreview~**


	19. Hospitalized

**reviewreviewreviewreview**

"AAUUUGHHH!" Aelita writhed relentlessly in agony upon the stiff stretcher that rushed through the doors. The blinding lights above flashed by so quickly that they became swift blurs, stabbing at her pupils. The solid white sheets quickly began to fade to shades of dark pink and maroon beneath her, and her fists clenched her abdomen as she cried and screamed. "MAKE IT STOP!" She begged, tossing her head back and forth.

"We have to get her to the O.R., stat!" The man in the sharp, white coat urgently ordered as he grasped the stretcher's side and wheeled it along. All of Aelita's friends had graciously followed, and were speeding down the hallway by her side. Heads turned as the dozens of rushing footsteps crowded around this one stretcher that was desperately being shoved through the corridors.

"She's bleeding out!" The nurse aside from the doctor bellowed, adjusting the IV bag that hovered over her.

"Wait, O.R.? Why!?" Jeremie cried with wide-eyes, struggling to keep up with their quick pace.

"What's happening to her?" Yumi asked the doctor, her expression pleading for an answer, but they merely ignored her requests, disappearing behind the double doors that sealed away the restricted area. The glistening sorrow that resided in the eyes of the medical staff left their hearts sinking in a pool of fear and pessimism within their chests. The squeaking sound of the wheels rolling against the linoleum floor gradually disappeared into the darkness of the hallway, the flaps of the door swinging back and forth as they stopped in their tracks and stared ahead. Heads hung low and tears of worry snuck out of angry eyes.

"I don't understand," Jeremie quietly whispered as he fought back the enlarging lump in his throat. "She was fine a minute ago…"

"No, she wasn't." Yumi coldly stated, with Ulrich and Odd raising their heads in surprise, yet also wonder. Yumi turned to Jeremie with a blank look in her eyes, as if invisible drops were pooling in her tear ducts. She wiped her sleeve across her eyes, avoiding any sign of despair. "She hasn't been fine in a long time. We all know that, Jeremie. You know that."

"Yeah," Jeremie's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "I know." He removed his glasses and let them hang by his side.

* * *

An hour or so passed. The waiting room was spacious, but felt small and cramped with the amount of anxiety and distress that overwhelmed each square foot. It sat somewhat isolated at the end of the hallway near the intensive care unit. There was a large aquarium that sat in the middle of the room, producing a soft glow that illuminated the darkness as little golden fish peacefully swam through mechanical currents. Three couches lined the barren walls, cornered with little end tables that held a boring selection of magazines. A coffee machine rested on a countertop, perched next to a fair sized television. The lights were off, along with the TV. The only sound came from the humming of the aquarium's filter, the distant beeping from the I.C.U., and the slight crinkling of magazine pages as Yumi flipped through them.

Odd laid back on one of the couches, his right arm dangling off of the side. He let out a heavy sigh and traced the ridges of the ceiling with his finger in the air. The other couch was occupied by Yumi and Ulrich. Ulrich slipped in and out of slumber, leaning his face against his clenched fist, his elbow balanced on the arm of the aloof, leather couch. Yumi lay sprawled across the couch with her legs across Ulrich's lap. She licked her fingertips as she lazily skimmed through an expired issue of Cosmopolitan. Jeremie had taken throne of the final couch, sitting cross legged and staring at the empty door, waiting for the doctor to come and say that Aelita was alright. That everything would be okay. Waiting for the moment where there would be no more waiting.

A gentle tapping scraped against the walls and the light flicked on suddenly, grabbing the attention of the four Lyoko warriors.

"Awfully dark in here, isn't it?" A comedic voice echoed from the door frame. "You're here with Ms. Stones?"

"Yes," Jeremie hastily replied as he stood up from the sofa and brushed the wrinkles out of his sweatshirt. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," he replied. Grins spread across the faces of all four and they gasped with relief.

"What happened?" Yumi anxiously asked, stretching her limbs as she raised herself from the couch.

"Ectopic pregnancy," the doctor confirmed as he flipped through her charts. "The pain and bleeding was caused by the fallopian tube rupturing. We did surgery to stop the bleeding and remove the affected tube, we'll keep her overnight for recovery but she should be just fine."

"Wait, what? Pregnancy? But, she took a test…" Yumi scratched her head.

"Well, the hormone levels from ectopic pregnancies are significantly lower, and can sometimes produce false negatives."

Odd opened his mouth to speak and paused. He thought for a moment, and then re-opened his mouth to speak. "And exactly what is an… ecowhatta whatever?"

The doctor smirked slightly. "An _ectopic _pregnancy," he explained, putting emphasis on the word as he looked over towards Odd, "is when a child is conceived but the egg never makes it to the uterus. It is fertilized inside a woman's fallopian tube and begins to grow. Now, no child can be carried to term inside the fallopian tube. If not found early enough and treated, it will rupture and cause what we just saw in little Aelita."

Odd blinked in response. "Well what's a fall—" Ulrich cut the boy off, cupping his hand over his mouth.

"Okay, cat-boy. We can discuss female anatomy later. Can we go see her, doctor?"

"Well," He tapped his pen against the clipboard in his grasp. "I guess I don't see why not. Right this way." He held out his arm, leading the way towards her hospital room. Their feet trailed along in step across the shining tiled floor, dark hallways becoming vibrant with glowing white lights. A nurse walked by and waved, and moans could be silently heard from the rooms behind them. A three minute walk that seemed like hours quickly came to a close and the solid door slowly creaked open, the doctor disappearing behind them to leave them be with the pink-haired girl.  
"Hey, Aelita," Jeremie immediately said as he skipped to her bedside.

"Hello," she quietly said as she rubbed her tired eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." She smiled, and then scratched at the needle inside the crease of her elbow. "This is uncomfortable, though."

"But it will keep you feeling better," Jeremie reassured as he brushed some of her fragile strands out of her pale eyes.

"So, Aelita…" Ulrich nervously approached her, scratching his frayed brown locks. "Did the doctor tell you what happened?"

"Yes," she replied, twiddling her thumbs. "It's a scary thought. But I feel almost… empty. As if I've lost a part of me, if that makes sense."

Yumi pulled up a chair by her bed, opposite of Jeremie. "It makes perfect sense," she said, leaning her elbows on the snow white sheets.

Ulrich continued. "So, Aelita… before it happened, you were about to tell us something. You said that…"

Aelita raised her palm, signaling for him to stop talking. She closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I know." She looked towards Jeremie and leaned by his neck, speaking something so softly others couldn't hear.

"Are you sure?" he whispered back, before she nodded at him. "Okay." He turned towards Yumi, and then the two boys. "Come on," he gestured, walking over to the door. "We should probably discuss this outside."

Ulrich and Odd looked at each other and shrugged. "Well… okay."

The door clicked shut, leaving Yumi and Aelita behind. "The reason I wanted to talk about this out here," Jeremie started as he wiped off the blurred glass of his bifocals," was because I didn't want to make Aelita think about it too much as she heard me explain."

"Think about what?" Odd inquisitively asked.

Jeremie cleared his throat, and placed his glasses back on his face. "Aelita wasn't lying when she said the pregnancy test was hers. Obviously, since now we know she was pregnant. What she _was _lying about, was the fact that the kid was mine."

"So then… who's was it?" Ulrich questioned. "I honestly never expected Aelita to be doing—"

"It wasn't her choice," Jeremie interrupted, causing Odd and Ulrich to share with each other a puzzled glance. The blonde lowered his head for a moment, leaving the two to ponder as he stared at the bland patterns of the floor beneath him. Again, he cleared his throat, fighting back the lump of tears that was quietly brewing. He raised his attention to them. "She was raped."

The young men gasped with disbelief, wide eyes glossing over with horror. Jeremie took a deep breath and continued the story.

"About two months ago, she was confronted by someone who knows about her past. He knows about Lyoko, her parents, and the supercomputer. He wanted more knowledge, and Aelita refused to tell. So I guess that was his way of punishing her. It's why she has been acting strange. Why she's always quiet, and why she won't let anyone leave her alone."

"Wow…" Odd exhaled through his shaking breath.

"I don't believe this."

"The trouble doesn't end there," Jeremie carried on. "He's not done. He knows about all of us, and his goal is to finish what he started. And he's not going down without a fight."

"What do you mean?"

"Aelita thinks he is stalking her. Now, I don't know if maybe they're just hallucinations from the trauma or what, but I'm not taking any risks."

Odd sank down onto the floor. "This is too much to take in at one," he whined.

"You're telling me." Ulrich bit his lip. "Has she told anyone else?"

"Just me and Yumi. Now, us five are the only ones that know."

"Don't you think it'd be a good idea for her to tell like, a doctor? Or Mr. Delmas?"

"Yeah, I do. But I don't think she's ready to do that. This guy… he already knows that she told us. And he's not happy."

**reviewreviewreviewreview**


	20. Midnight Intrusion

Night settled. The hectic atmosphere of the busy hospital; with doctors running amok for distressed patients, dwindled away into peaceful and collected, with the only chatter and footsteps being of the few third shift nurses. All patients were sleeping; their heart monitors echoed throughout the halls like a lullaby. Tweeting birds turned into chirping crickets, orange horizons faded into navy skies. Yumi had gone back to her home, fearing the ridicule of her parents if she had stayed out too late. Odd and Ulrich had rushed back to their dormitories, knowing they couldn't escape the wrath of Delmas if they were to miss classes tomorrow. Jeremie, as expected, was the one who stayed behind. A small wooden chair coated with green cushion sat solemnly in the corner of the room, and Jeremie had taken it up as his cathedra for the night.

Aelita lay curled into a ball under the mountain of white sheets tightly tucked beneath her, the heated blanket spreading warmth throughout her fragile body. Jeremie was uncomfortably hunched up against his seat, and for the first night in a while, he was actually sleeping. For Aelita, though; well, as usual, it was a different story. Timid, high-pitched whimpers escaped from her firmly pressed lips as she writhed in her sleep, clutching onto the blankets. "No," she quietly begged. "Let me go!"

As she continued to squirm throughout her nightmare, silent yet ear-piercing creaking filled the room as the window slowly slid open. An unknown presence grazed it's hands against her ruffled mess of hair, almost viciously tugging at the waves. "Wake up," hot breath swept across the soft skin of her ear lobes. "I said wake up," the voice sternly repeated.

Aelita popped one of her eyes open, turning towards the direction of the voice. "Jeremie?" she whispered as she sat up in her bed, peering into darkness. Wind blew into the room, causing the lilac tinted curtains of the window behind her to brush against the sides of her face. She swatted at the tickling sensation.

"Guess again."

As she began to shake from both slight fear and cold coming from the open window, Aelita gripped the sheets of her bed and held them to her nose, half-way hiding her body from the suspicious entity. "Who's there?" She called, seeing no one but Jeremie snoozing across the room. There was no answer, and she squinted her eyes as she glanced harder into the dusky corners of the room. "Hello?"

The man cleared his throat and he politely tapped her shoulder from behind, causing Aelita to gasp and turn around. Before she could say anything, he clamped his strong hand over her mouth.

"No screaming," he playfully ordered, shaking his finger at her as he made a 'tsk, tsk' sound. The pink-haired woman obeyed and stared speechless upon the man with terror stricken eyes. "That's two more people you've revealed your secret to. One was bad enough, Ms. Schaeffer."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Her lips vibrated against his fingers, her mumble sneaking through the gaps between his digits.

"Well, because it's your name of course. I'm wondering how it is that you don't remember yourself." Aelita mumbled again, but he shoved his hand harder against her mouth until her teeth were cutting into her lips, urging her to keep silent. "Hush," he demanded. "I'm also wondering how it is you are 12 years old today. When your father disappeared, I distinctly remember from photographs that you were also 12 at that point in time… which was 10 years ago." The man quirked his thick, albeit well-trimmed eyebrow at Aelita. He smirked. "If only you blabbed to me as much as you blab to your friends."

Tears welled in Aelita's glossed eyes as she trembled beneath his grip with fright. The chill from the blast of gale blowing from the window gave her goose bumps, her dainty pink arm hairs standing on edge. She darted her quivering pupils over to the other side of the room, anxiously trying to see if Jeremie was still in his spot. She couldn't strain her peripheral vision enough to see that far, but surely he would hear the intruder if he were still here.

"I've been good to you so far," the man gently spat at her as she fidgeted in the bed. "But my patience is wearing thin, and it seems I can't trust you anymore. I'll have to do something to put you in your place."

Aelita wriggled her lips that had been shoved under the pressure of his hand until she finally managed to free her upper jaw, clamping her teeth down on his index finger as hard as he could. The man jumped back and screamed, smacking her across the face in reflex. Aelita yelped.

"Jeremie!" She cried out, rolling off of the bed as she desperately backed away from the furious enemy. "JEREMIE!" she screamed again. Silence. She peeped over the edge of the bed to see the man was no longer there, and that the window had been shut. Was she dreaming? But then she felt the salty, warm taste of blood inside of her lips from where her incisors had been forced against her mouth. It couldn't have been a dream. The door slammed open, and, thinking he had returned, Aelita crawled underneath of the hospital bed.

"Aelita?" Jeremie called out, noticing she wasn't in the spot she had been when he left. "Where are you?" He turned on the light and scratched his head, noticing the sheets had been tossed around and thrown on the floor. He got on his knees and peeked underneath the bed, his eyes meeting the sight of a trembling Aelita huddled on the floor.

"Jeremie?"

"What in the world are you doing under here?"

"He came back," she timidly said, looking around to make sure he was gone. A tear trickled down her cheek.

"What do you mean?"

"He knows I told Ulrich and Odd." Her lips began to shudder and more water steadily began to drift from her eyes. Jeremie pouted and joined her side under the bed, letting her rest her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

"He was here?" Aelita responded by nodding her head against his sweatshirt. Jeremie sighed, rubbing his hand up and down her back for a moment. Neither of them made noise, just silently sitting in the obscurity of the shadows below the bed while tears quietly dripped off of Aelita's jawline. "Aelita, are you sure it wasn't just a dream?"

Aelita titled her head upwards, almost glaring at Jeremie. "It wasn't a dream! I _saw _him! He pinned me against my bed and made me bite my own lips! Look," she flipped her upper lip backwards, revealing the grooves implanted from her teeth that were lightly coated with salty blood. Jeremie sighed again.

"Maybe you just did that in your sleep."

Enraged, Aelita stormed out from underneath the bed. "I can't believe that you don't believe me," she hissed as she crossed her arms and angrily tapped her bare foot against the stony linoleum. Jeremie strolled over to her.

"Aelita, it's not that I don't believe you." Aelita refused to make eye contact, and she pulled away instantly as he tried to join hands with hers. "But, there's no evidence that anyone was even here."

She chewed against her bottom lip as she felt herself growing warm with rage. She turned to face Jeremie, spitting at him with a feeling of betrayal and rejection. "Yeah, because you like to disappear without reason!" she shouted into his face, her fists clenched against her hips. "He's not going to walk in the room when there are other people around!"

Jeremie leaned backwards as Aelita's words spewed against him. His only reaction was to retort, and without even thinking the stabs began to flow consistently with no intention of stopping. "What, I'm not even allowed to get up and use the bathroom?" He violently asked, jabbing his pointer finger against her chest. "Look, I shouldn't have to be your freaking guardian! I understand you're scared, Aelita, but maybe you wouldn't be in this mess if you would stop being so stubborn and just tell someone who can actually do something about it!"

As soon as his sentence came to a close, he regretted it. Instantly. The anger that had so briefly overcome him had been replaced with guilt, but most importantly, fear. Fear that Aelita would never trust him again as she looked upon him with shock, hurt, and disbelief. She had no words to respond with. Her bottom lip began to shiver. She sniffled as she dabbed her wrist against the corners of her eyes that were rapidly overflowing. Jeremie puckered, attempting to reach out to her.

"Aelita…" he softly and apologetically cooed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"I think you should leave." Her words were unfriendly and coated with both despair and enragement. She did not make eye-contact, and she did neither whisper nor yell. Jeremie also remained silent, and he simply nodded before grabbing his coat and walking out of the door.


	21. Yes, Daddy

The sun rose, all of the sleeping birds awakening from their nests to alert the Earth of daylight's presence. Jeremie did not show up at the hospital to follow Aelita back to her dorm. Instead, Yumi and her parents drove to pick her up, and Yumi became her personal safety escort for the day. When she asked Aelita where Jeremie was, she rolled her eyes and merely shrugged her words off, not wanting to talk about it. She wasn't sure who to be mad at, exactly; if it should be Jeremie, or herself. Aelita wanted to be able to tell someone. She wanted to trust Jeremie when he reassured that it would only help, not hurt, but nonetheless the sickening power that the frightening stalker held only pushed her farther away from the doors to the headmaster's office.

The morning started off blindingly cheerful. The sun's golden rays shone so brilliantly that Aelita had to stare at the concrete ground for most of the walk across campus. It was truthfully because of the sunlight, but others looked upon her with concern. Students wondered if she was sad, or still ill. Rumors spread from one set of lips to the other, quicker than the speed of light. Whenever Aelita would look up, only for a moment, someone was coldly glaring back at her. Yumi put her arm around Aelita's frail shoulders and friendlily tugged her closer, acting as her private shield. From the corner of her eye, Aelita saw Milly and Tamiya by a small metal rack, displaying their newest edition of the Kadic newsletter. They pulled at the shirts of anyone who walked by, frantically handing them out. She walked over to their miniature news stand, breaking free of Yumi's hover.

"Oh, hey Aelita!" Milly and Tamiya greeted with delight as the pinkette curiously and also reluctantly approached. "Feeling better?" Aelita gave a brief, weak smile, before helping herself to one of the booklets. The very first page exhibited the photograph snuck in her dorm as she writhed against the carpet, her arms wrapped around her abdomen in agony. Aelita dropped the newspaper and cringed, almost tasting the blood that was shown in the picture.

"Why… why did you put that in there?" She stared at the open pages on the concrete, big bold letters highlighting the words 'Kadic Student Aelita Stones Hospitalized After Tragic Accident.'

"Because it's a huge scoop!" Tamiya defended as she continued to hand out magazines.

Aelita clenched her fists at her sides as her face began to flush with heat of both embarrassment and fury. "You can't just go putting stuff like that in the paper without asking me about it first! That's invasion of privacy!"

"Oh," Milly pouted. "Well, we're sorry Aelita. We just couldn't pass up a huge opportunity like this!"

"So my suffering is just some pile of juicy gossip for you to get famous off of, huh? You think this is a joke?"

"Woah, Aelita, calm down…" Tamiya backed away from Aelita who began to tower over them with antagonism. The little girl pushed her hands towards 'Lita, urging her to take a breath, but her actions were meaningless. Aelita's breathing quickened as she glared down at the two journalists. Overtaken with complete wrath, she jerked at her hair before thrashing her foot against the kiosk of papers, letting out a painful shriek of angst. The booklets of Milly and Tamiya's gossip soared all onto the ground, and Aelita furiously stomped on them and kicked them around.

"Hey!" Milly barked as she desperately began to scoop up all of her hard work. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, what's gotten into you?"

"Aelita!" Yumi rushed over by her side, taking ahold of her shoulders. Students had crowded around and stared at the mess the girl had made, sparking only more rumors to spread. Torn shreds of the newspaper gracefully tumbled onto the grass as wind began to scratch away other small remnants of the newsletter. Aelita didn't know what to do, nor say, and so Yumi gave an apologetic, crooked smile before rushing her away from the horde of chatter and gossips.

* * *

"Hey, Einstein!" Odd piped, edging his way into Jeremie's room. "What's happening?"

Jeremie briefly glanced over his shoulder before turning back around to blankly gape at his computer monitor. "Oh," he quietly and plainly spoke. "Hey, Odd."

The svelte boy stood behind Jeremie, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. He noticed there was nothing actually on Jeremie's screen. "You're not working on the diary?" he inquired, pointing towards the stale computer interface.

"I already finished it." Jeremie replied with lack of emotion.

"You did? Really? That's great!"

"Yeah."

The fair-haired boy had yet to even turn his chair around and converse with Odd face-to-face. Odd played with his fingers inside his pockets for a moment, studying Jeremie as he sat casually in his chair with his arms crossed. He decided to ask what was on his mind, as it was clear something was. "Why so glum, Jer? Now you can find Aelita's anti-virus!"

"You can only make an anti-virus if there's a virus." Again, Jer's words were flat.

"What do you mean?"

"Aelita doesn't have a virus."

"But…" Odd rubbed the sides of his forehead in mystification. "What do you mean?"

"XANA didn't give her a virus. What he actually did, is he took something from her."

"Oh…" Odd's brain began to jumble around inside his artistic skull. He was having troubling grasping why Jeremie was delivering all of this sudden, crucial information so nonchalantly. "What?"

"I don't know. A fragment I guess." The miniature Einstein slowly spun his chair to face Odd and adjusted his glasses as he usually did. Perhaps it was time for a new pair that didn't keep sliding down his face.

"Well, where on Earth are we going to find it? Or should I say, where on Lyoko?" Odd attempted to lighten the conversation with comedic relief, but to no avail. Jeremie sustained his empty glower and shrugged. Odd groaned. "Jeremie, what's wrong? How come Aelita isn't in here?"

"Because she won't talk to me."

"Uh-oh," Odd mumbled. He sat on the corner of Jeremie's bed and rested his elbows on top of his knees. "Okay, what happened, Romeo?"

Jeremie sighed. "We had a fight. And I said something dumb, and now she won't talk to me. I've left her at least 3 voicemails at this point."

"Well, what did you say?"

"I, uh…" Jeremie bit the corners of his lip. "I just… it doesn't matter. It's nothing."

"If it was nothing, she wouldn't be pissed at you, would she?"

Again, Jeremie sighed. He continued to chew on his lip, causing frail bits of sensitive skin to begin flaking off. "She had another nightmare about this guy coming to threaten her. I had gone to use the bathroom, and when I came back she was freaking out underneath her bed. There was absolutely no sign of anyone intruding the room, so… well, I told her it was probably a dream."

"Oooooh," Odd leaned backwards and hissed, as if Jer's words had stung him. "Ouch."

"Yes, but that's not all. She yelled at me for leaving her alone for a brief 5 minutes and so I yelled back and told her to stop being stubborn about the situation and…"

"Oh, boy."

The blonde cringed. "Yeah…"

Odd smacked himself in the forehead, dragging his facial skin downwards as his palms slid across his face. "Okay. This is no big deal. She was being clingy, you lashed out, but it's okay. She'll come around eventually."

Jeremie pressed his lips into a fine line, gazing at the wall. "Are you sure?"

"Duh, she really likes you, you know."

Shades of red flustered onto the blonde's pastel cheekbones. "I… wha?"

"Oh, come on. We don't call you Einstein for nothing, you should've been able to figure that out." Odd playfully bonked Jeremie on the head. "Well, I gotta go. Don't stress about it though, things will work out.

"But… hey! Odd!"

The door slammed in front of him.

* * *

"Aelita…" A soft whisper travelled between the crevices of the room. The woman had lied down for a nap after the stressful incident earlier. Her blinds had been shut, forbidding any sunlight from sneaking into her dorm. All lights were off and Aelita hid away under her comforter. The room was dim and cold, the lack of light paler than her own complexion. "Aelita," the voice trailed among her ears and hair; she swatted at her face as the breath tickled her strands against her cheeks, stirring slightly in her slumber. A hand rested against her skull, gently rustling her marshmallow pink locks. The girl's eyelids burst open, and she flung herself out of her bed.

"NO!" She ordered, cornering herself against the wall. "Leave me alone!" She cowered against the corner, holding her fists against her body as protection.

"Calm down, my angel." The voice was calm and soothing; friendly and gentle rather than harsh and demanding. Aelita slowly forced one of her eyes open, and before her she did not see the towering criminal as she had originally thought. He squatted down on the floor, slowly reaching his hand out to her. His long, white coat rested against the carpet behind him and his grey hair was a frizzled mess. But he spoke softly to Aelita and had no intentions of harming her. His thin, wrinkled lips gradually curled into a smile.

Aelita straightened her posture and relaxed her body. She reached her petite hands out to the man until the tip of her index finger touched against his digits. Most of Aelita's days were spent in darkness; spent not even remembering or knowing who she truly was. But at the very moment she touched his hand, she felt everything she had ever known rush into her body, filling her with warmth. Echoes of laughter played inside of her head, flashes of memories in the French Alps and the Hermitage. She, too, smiled in return.

"D…daddy?" The man nodded, and stood before her as Aelita began to break down into tears and flung herself into him. He wrapped his long arms around her, and Aelita burrowed her face against the fluffy wool of his maroon, turtleneck sweater. It was almost similar to Jeremie's, which made her feel even more content. "Daddy, I miss you," she cried into his chest.

"I know, Aelita. But I cannot stay here long."

Aelita looked upwards at her father and sniffled. "But…why?"

"I'm only here to help you, Aelita," he said as he dabbed the corners of his sweater against her wet cheeks. "I am so sorry for what happened to you, angel."

Aelita looked down at the floor before redirecting her glistening eyes towards her father. "I'm scared, Daddy." She clenched her fists together as if she were pleading, looking into his thick bifocals.

"I know. Which is why you have to tell them, Aelita."

"But…"

"Shh," her father gently ordered as he pressed his finger against her lips. "Aelita, my angel. You must believe me when I say this will help you. You must do it, Aelita."

Aelita did not hesitate. She lowered her head slightly, a single drop crashing to the floor as she closed her eyelids. She then raised her head again and stared him in the eyes. When Jeremie asked her to confront an authority, she refused, afraid to even consider it. When Yumi tried, she would shut her words away. When Ulrich or Odd attempted, she merely mocked them as they barely even knew her situation still. But with her father so calmly demanding her actions, she felt she couldn't go against him. "Yes, daddy," she softly obliged.

He smiled at her, pleased with her response. "Aelita. I know that I may not always be here in front of you like I am right now, but never forget that I will always be with you here." He pressed his hand against her heart. Aelita clasped her hands over his and smiled as she looked up at him. The words 'never forget' echoed inside her ears, and she knew this wasn't the first time he had spoken that phrase.

And just as soon as he had come, he was gone. The soft tune of '12 Variations' played inside of her head as she stared at the emptiness before her.

* * *

Her knuckles tenderly scraped against the door. "Jeremie?" she whispered against the hardwood. "Are you in there?"

Immediately, the door flung open, revealing a shocked and enthused blonde boy. "Aelita?" he beamed, relieved to see her. Her tiny lips quirked into a smile in return, and she stepped inside his room.

"I came to apologize for last night."

"No, Aelita," Jeremie uttered, stopping her, "I'm the one who needs to apologize. I shouldn't have said any of those things." He shyly kicked his feet against the carpet, shaking his head in regret.

"But you had a right to be angry," she defended. "I shouldn't keep being so stubborn about this."

Jeremie walked up to her and took her icy palms into his own. "Aelita," he said with a serious yet friendly look on his face. "You don't have to tell anyone until you feel like you're ready. I promise I won't yell at you again." He leered at her with reassurance.

"I am ready, Jeremie."

"What?" He titled his head at her.

Aelita let her hands fall out of Jeremie's and she folded them behind her back. She closed her eyes and smiled before looking back into Jeremie's eyes. "I'm ready to tell, Jeremie."  
Jeremie's mouth slightly gaped open, but quickly morphed into an enthusiastic grin of relief. "What made you change your mind?" he queried.

"I just…" Aelita looked over Jeremie's shoulder and thought of seeing her father earlier. Not just seeing him, but feeling him and even smelling him. What she didn't need, though, was Jeremie thinking she was hallucinating again. She thought that perhaps this was best kept to herself, and so she lied. "I don't know," she gave an uneasy grin as she redirected her glimmering eyes towards Jeremie's fair face. "I just did."

"Oh," Jeremie chortled, an eyebrow slightly rising with skepticism. "Well, okay. Do you want to go right now?" He walked over to the door and placed his hand on the solid metal of the doorknob, examining Aelita, waiting for confirmation.

"Well…" She hesitated, and Jeremie understood straightaway.

"Okay," he said, removing his fingers from the handle. "We can go tomorrow morning, how about that?"

Aelita smiled and nodded.

"Would you like to stay here for a while?"

"Yes. I would like that," Aelita smirked slightly and sat down on Jeremie's bed, pulling her legs up to sit Indian-style. Jeremie joined her side and dragged one of his fluffy white pillows behind him, leaning backwards against it.

"I finished the diary," he said. Aelita stared at the wall, slightly distracted before turning to face Jeremie.

"You did?"

"Yes. And as it turns out, you don't have a virus after all." Jeremie delivered the information very confidently and calmly. He appeared neither ecstatic nor bored.

"I don't?" Her voice piped up with curiosity and one of her thin, pink eyebrows rose upon her wrinkling brow.

Jeremie sneered smugly and cracked his knuckles. "Nope, XANA didn't give you anything. Instead, he took something from you."

"Oh," she quietly said as she zoned out in the direction of Jeremie. She heard what he was saying, and it was good news of course… but for the moment, something else was on her mind. She stared intently at his facial features, exploring the depths of his blue eyes, the perkiness of his nose and the structure of his jawline. The way his round glasses so keenly slid down the bridge of his elfin nose. The way his thin strands of blonde hair that was never properly combed fell into his eyes and rested against his nose and cheeks, and how quickly his pale, white skin could turn into the color of a beet just from Aelita's glance.

Jeremie raised an eyebrow at her as he took note of the reflection of himself in her sea of green. "What are you staring at?"

Aelita blinked, realizing she had been caught in the midst of her daydream. "Jeremie, will you kiss me?" She asked, quietly and bluntly.

"I… what?" He backed away, dumbfounded.

"Well, I would just like to know what it feels like. You know, from someone I like, instead of… when I don't want it. I want to know what a real kiss is like. You know?" She blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry, that was a silly thing to ask, wasn't it? I'm sorry, I'm just-"

"Hey," Jeremie stopped her and rested his hand on her jawline, delicately titling her head towards him. "No, it's not stupid." He smiled at her, and the steady line of her nervous lips curved into a smile in return as the pink hue on her cheekbones drifted away. They stared at each other for a moment in silence until the blonde bravely leaned in and interlocked his lips with hers. Her eyes shot open and she gasped into his mouth, surprised at first, but quickly adjusted and relaxed her body. Her eyelids fell shut and she worked her lips against Jeremie's, resting her arms on his shoulders and tangling her fingers behind his neck. Jeremie lightly clutched her hair in-between his fingers and they both beamed against each other's lips.


	22. Confessions

I'm staring blankly at my computer while I wait for Aelita to wake up. There's nothing for me to do. I've finished the diary, there is nothing suspicious going on inside Lyoko, and there are no XANA attacks. The computer hums silently in the darkness of my room that is slowly brightening up from the rising sun. I've been awake for over an hour now, although I'm not really sure why. I guess I just couldn't sleep.

This morning 'Lita has an appointment with Mr. Delmas, and she's finally going to tell him everything. I'm extremely happy and relieved that she will finally be getting help. I know she's scared that it will only make things worse, but I'm confident that this will prove otherwise. I know that once the situation is in an official figure's hands, everything will be okay. Once this freak is thrown in jail, she will no longer be in harm. And I can't wait, because as much as it's stressing me and the others out, I can't imagine what it's actually doing to her.

She barely talks to anyone anymore. She doesn't smile and laugh like she used to, and she's very timid and frightened all of the time. I like being close to her, and I don't really mind personally escorting her around, but sometimes I need to be left alone, especially with all the work on defeating XANA I still have to do. Not to mention, we haven't even started looking for Aelita's missing fragment yet.

Although I guess right now, her situation on Earth is more important than in a virtual world. XANA has been quiet. So quiet that I almost wonder if somehow he is behind this… but there would need to be an activated tower for any sort of signal to be sent from XANA to the men in black.

Maybe I should pay more attention in P.E. with Jim, and then I'd be able to take care of this guy myself. I clench my fists against my sides at the thought of personally pounding him into the ground. It makes me stomach churn, thinking about what he did to Aelita. I don't even think she really understands still. It's not fair.

I look at my watch. The appointment with Delmas is in less than an hour and she's still asleep. Although I hate to wake her because it's so rare that she finally sleeps anymore, I walk over to her and gently shake her shoulders as she begins to stir.

"Aelita," I whisper against her ear. "Wake up."

She moans something I don't understand before pulling the cover back over her head. I smile at how adorable she is and begin thinking about last night, which in turn causes me to blush. I think about her hands being around my neck and my fingers rustling in her hair, and I think about how she curls her lips into a smile while pressed against mine. She deserves it, though. There was no way I could've said no to her. She deserves to know what something like that really feels like, compared to when you're being forced against a brick wall. Time to stop daydreaming, Jer. You need to get this girl out of bed.

"Aelita," I say again, although a bit louder. "Come on, you need to get up."

She sighs heavily and throws the blanket off of her body and then smiles up at me. "Good morning," she says.

I smile back. "Morning, 'Lita." She drags herself out of my bed and rubs her eyes before yawning and walking down the hall into the wash room. I sit on my bed and wait for when she comes back, ready to head down to Mr. Delmas' office. I hate that I can't follow her to the girls room, because who knows when that guy could pop out? Not to mention, truthfully, I like to be around her as much as I can. All I have to do is take one look at her and my heart starts pounding inside my chest… and that just makes me even angrier. It's not fair that someone so beautiful and perfect had to have something so horrible happen to her. She doesn't deserve that. Nobody deserves that, but, especially not Aelita. I sigh, and Aelita walks back into my room dressed for the day. "That was quick," I say.

"I guess." She nervously clutches the ends of her dress and I walk over to her side.

"Are you ready, Aelita?" I'm waiting for her to change her mind last minute. For her to say she's too afraid and that she wants to wait until tomorrow. Instead, though, she nods her head. I think I'm just as nervous as she is.

We make our way down the hallway and start walking towards the headmaster's office. The walk seems long, awkward and agonizing. Everywhere we go there is a rumor of some sort making its way through the air. I see students look at Aelita before leaning into their friend's ears and snickering.

"Did you see her the other day?"

"She totally trashed Milly and Tamiya's news stand."

"I heard she has a brain disease."

I sigh and roll my eyes at the blunt immaturity of some people, and notice Aelita is dragging her feet as she pouts towards the ground. I put my arm around her shoulders and give her a friendly tug closer to my body.

"It's gonna be okay," I reassure her as I lean against the fragile cartilage of ears. I don't think she paid much attention, though. She continues to stare at the ground and she would've run straight into the doors if it weren't for me jerking her shoulder to hold her back.

"Huh?" she pipes up as she raises her head. I love the way she sounds when she's confused. I gesture my hand towards the double doors that seal away the office of Jean-Pierre Delmas. She looks over at me with fearful eyes, her usually soft face tense with anxiety.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask her.

"That depends," she quietly responds. "Are you sure it's the right thing to do?"

I nod. She looks towards the door and takes a deep breath before turning back towards me.

"Then yes," she says. "I'm sure." She doesn't sound very sure, though. I think she's only doing this to make me happy, and I certainly don't want that. I don't get to say much back, though, because the door is already shutting in front of me as I open my mouth. I guess she didn't want me to go in with her, and that's probably for the best anyway.

"Oh, hello, Ms. Stones! And what is it that brought you into my office so urgently this morning?" I hear the powering, albeit friendly voice of Mr. Delmas as the door slowly closes in my face.

* * *

Mr. Delmas sat in silence, tapping his ball point pen against the rough wood of his desk as he rubbed his chin in nervous contemplation.

"I see," he simply said.

Aelita sat Indian-style in the cushioned chair sitting across from his large desk, staring blankly at her lap as she twiddled her thumbs. She had told him every single detail. Every time of day; whether the sky was orange from sunset or blue from nightfall. Every place, whether the corners of the bathrooms or the alley in the city. She had gone from describing in painful depth the original event, to explaining how now it felt like he was following her around campus. Mr. Delmas patted the stack of papers in his oversized palms against the shining hardwood counter in front of him, gently placing them down and continuing to rub his chin. He twirled the hairs of his silvery beard around his fingers and cleared his throat, tapping his fingertips against his desk. The silence began to eat at Aelita. The clock on the wall ticked oh so slowly, each click growing louder than the last and pounding against her ear drums. She felt as if her ears were about to explode until the principal before her finally broke the silence as he fumbled for the telephone next to him.

"I'll phone the police, then. We should have you see Yolanda. Aelita?"

Aelita tilted her head upwards. "Yes, Mr. Delmas?"

He smiled slightly and gave a gentle nod of reassurance. "It's good that you told me."

Aelita grinned and exhaled a massive sigh of pure relief, finally feeling confident that everything was going to be okay. _Jeremie was right, _she thought to herself. _Of course he was. It's Jeremie. _She smiled. For the first time in a couple of months, she truly, legitimately smiled.

* * *

"How long ago was this, Aelita?" Yolanda asked as she pulled the gloves down her hands and snapped the latex against her wrists. Aelita nervously sat on the exam table in her gown, tightly hugging her shaky legs towards her chest as she watched the nurse rummage through the drawers.

"Uh… um… two months?" She chewed on the nails of one hand, with her other hand securely wrapped around her knees.

Yolanda frowned. "That's what I was afraid of," she mumbled.

"Why?" Aelita shifted around on the table, tugging at the hospital like gown to cover her chilly, bare legs. "What's wrong?"

Yolanda shut the drawer and turned to Aelita with an intimidating, metal tool in her hand; somewhat resembling a garden shovel. "Any samples of his DNA will surely have been washed away by now, which means tracking him down will be harder."

Aelita scowled and let out a defeated whimper.

"But not impossible," she reassuringly smiled. "Don't worry." She pulled a stool around from the corner and scooted towards the end of the exam table patting her hand against the tissue, encouraging Aelita to move forward. She reluctantly obliged, scurrying her little butt towards the end of the examination bed as her lips puckered into a panicky pout. "So, I'm going to assume that all of the bleeding I saw from you the last time you were in here was because of the assault, right?"

Aelita leisurely nodded.

"I was afraid of that, as well. That was very heavy bleeding, Aelita. Are you still bleeding like that?"

The porcelain skinned girl shrugged. "No, not really."

"Well that's good, at least. Now, Aelita, I'm going to ask you to relax your body as much as possible and lean back."

"Uh… okay," she quietly said as she lowered herself onto the table, still keeping her knees tightly clamped together. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to loosen her muscles as requested.

"Can you open your legs a bit for me, Aelita?"

"Uh, what?" Aelita shot upwards on the bed and noticed the tool that Yolanda had on the tray next to her. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Yolanda saw the nervous expression on the pinkette's face and rolled the stool closer to her, taking her hands into hers. She patted them as she tried to reassure Aelita. "I'm just going to do a simple examination to see how much damage there is, that's all."

'Lita's eyes, however, were still fixed on the intriguing tool that sparkled under the glare of the fluorescent lights. "Uh… is it going to hurt?"

"No. It may feel uncomfortable, and most likely cold because of the metal, but it won't hurt. Not too badly, if at all."

"Uhhh…" Shivers trickled up and down her spine and her stomach began to twist inside of her. She lied back down on the examination bed and took another deep breath whilst creating a tiny gap between her tightly shut legs.

"You're going to have to spread them a little wider, Aelita."

Aelita whimpered and gradually widened the space she had opened. "Is this… really necessary? I'm fine, really. Can we just skip the exam?"

"I'm afraid not. Just try and relax, Aelita. This is something every woman has to go through at one point or another, it's a common routine." The blonde nurse smiled at the shuddering woman as she took the tool into her hands and rubbed it with sanitizer.

Aelita turned her head towards the closed door, where she knew that Jeremie was waiting on the other side. She could almost see the outline of his shadow behind the blinds. And then, her mind wasn't so focused on the nurse, the metal or the exam bed anymore. It was focused on the night before, and how warm being embraced by Jeremie was compared to the far too freezing atmosphere of the nurse's office. She let her eyes fall shut and began to reminisce on the way he rested his hand against her hair and gently played with it, and the way his lips could so gracefully brush against hers as if he were an expert, even though she was sure he had never kissed a girl before. She sensed her face growing warm with a tinted blush in contrast to the air conditioning that filled the room, making her feel as if she were melting into a puddle and dripping off of the edges. Comfort and even happiness overwhelmed her, and for a split second she had forgotten where she was.

Only for a split second, though. A powerful sensation of pure ice below jolted her off of the bed.

**sorry for the uneventful chapter. when my mind tells me to stop a chapter, i have to stop it, whether or not** **i've gotten what i want out of it. xP reviewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww**


	23. Falling into the Trap

I breathe. I've been leaning against this door for a good while now, and all I've heard is silence. Does that mean it's going well? I check my watch, observing the graceful ticking of the second hand. It's only been a few minutes. I tap my foot impatiently against the dusty tiles of the hallway. It probably wouldn't hurt for them to send the janitors around more often. Instinctively, I check my watch again. It's not like any time would have actually gone by, but it's become a habit.

"WOAH!" I hear from the other side, muffled against the door. I turn around and stare at the little glass window that I can't possibly see through, since it's covered by accordion style blinds hanging on the other side. "Ow! You said it wouldn't hurt! OW!"

That doesn't sound good. I want to knock, at least do something, but I can't. I wasn't allowed inside with her for obvious reasons, and I'm not sure I really want to be in there anyways. She doesn't seem to be enjoying herself, though… I press my ear against the door to get a better listen.

"Aelita, I can't do this unless you relax." I can tell Yolanda is trying to soothe her about it, but it's not doing much.

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO RELAX?" she snaps back at the nurse.

I scratch my head and quirk my lips downwards, wishing there was something I could do. I'll just have to be patient and be ready to console her when she's finally done in there. If she ever gets done, that is. I hear fussing and whining from the other side, and I can always tell when it's Aelita who's whimpering.

"I don't want to do this!"

"Aelita, you have to…"

"NO! STOP!"

I raise my eyebrows and my heart starts thudding against my boney chest. I press my ear harder against the wood, although she is yelling so loudly it's probably not necessary.

"Aelita, please, calm down."

"STOP IT!"

"I'm not doing anything!"

I hear a loud crash, the sound of tin and metal scuttling across the hard laminate flooring. More fidgeting and fussing, followed by a heavy, exhausted sigh from Yolanda. Sheesh, Aelita. The handle before me starts turning and I speedily jump away from the door. Nurse Yolanda approaches me with an interesting look of both annoyance and concern.

"I can't get anything done with her tensed up like this. Every time I approach her, she starts re-enacting the assault. Do you think you could calm her down?"

I scratch the back of my neck and shrug. "I can certainly try," I say.

Yolanda smiles at me and gestures me inside the room, where Aelita is curled up on the exam table, firmly squeezing her knees against her chest. I can almost feel her shaking as I walk up to her. I walk over to her and place my hand on her shoulder, rubbing it delicately before the tall nurse closes the door to give us a moment. Poor 'Lita is quivering against the tissue strewn across the table, one of her fists clenched in her hair with her face glistening in wetness. I lean down by her ears, using my hand pressed against the table to keep balance. She seems to listen better when I speak softly and kindly.

"Aelita," I gently whisper. "What's the matter?"

"She tried to stick that thing in me and it felt like the same night all over again. So I freaked out," she murmured through her shuddering lips.

"I understand," I mouth as I rub her back. The motion of my hands against the thin gown that covers her skin gets her to loosen up a bit, which is what Yolanda needed in the first place. "But Yolanda isn't going to hurt you, she's trying to help."

"It still hurt," she tearfully mumbles. I pout. I'm not really sure what to say. "I don't want to do it."

"I know you don't, but you have to, Aelita." She starts to quietly cry. Oh, boy. "Aelita, you can make it through this. I know you can. You're brave, and…" I skip over my words a bit. I wanted to say beautiful, but I just couldn't get it out. This is no time for cowardliness, Jeremie! "And, well, look at everything else you've gotten through just fine."

"But that's just it, Jeremie!" She wipes her arm along her cheekbones and springs up on the table, swinging her legs to the side. "I'm not fine. I'm tired of pretending that I am because I'm not. All this time I thought I was just a girl inside a computer. But now, now all of a sudden I'm human? I have parents whose names I can't even remember and thanks to my mad scientist of a father dragging me into a virtual universe we've got XANA trying to kill us off and I have no recollection of who I am now or who I once was. All of my documents are forged to make others believe I'm an orphan from Canada but outside of Kadic, I don't even exist. Because of this, I'm nothing, Jeremie. I'm no one."

"Aelita…" I stutter. I don't even know what to say, I sit there with my mouth gaping open as she starts to weep more openly. She buries her hands into her face and lets the tears pool into her palms. I rest my fingers on her chin and tilt her head towards me. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" I ask.

"Because," she muffles into my shirt. "I don't like complaining. I should be thankful for all that I have instead of-"

"Aelita," I interrupt. "You're not 'nothing.' In fact, you're absolutely everything. Not only to me, but to the Yumi and the others as well. I know things are rough now, but… once we find this creep and then shut down XANA, you can start over. You'll have a whole new life, a brand new life."

She sniffles, and wraps her arms around herself. I hop onto the exam table, sitting next to her. She immediately leans her head against my shoulder, and I rest my arm around her whilst rubbing her sides. She looks over to the sink and softly moans, taking note of the intimidating speculum sitting on the counter. It is rather creepy looking. I'm thankful I'm not a girl. The door gradually opens up, and the nurse steps back into the room.

"Are you ready?" she asks. Aelita hugs herself tighter and cringes, and I am booted out of the room.

Once again, I'm leaning against the door, daydreaming as I wait for the exam to finish. I've heard a few yips, but it doesn't sound like Aelita is throwing things onto the ground this time.

"Oh, sweet XANA that's _cold!"_

"…sweet what?"

"Uh, nothing."

I snicker. That's a funny phrase, maybe I'll have to start using that myself. My phone buzzes inside of my pocket, and I inquiringly check for the source of the vibration. It's a message from Ulrich.

"We've got a problem," it states. Uh-oh.

"XANA?" I reply, before slipping my phone back into my pocket. Ulrich is usually a slow texter, unless of course Yumi is the one on the other line. I don't expect to receive a response very hastily, but part of my abdomen tightens up as I become slightly nervous as to what caused him to say that. I check my watch. Aelita's been in there about ten minutes. My phone goes off again.

"No, but there is a cop here who is looking for Aelita and he is interrogating all of us. Just got done questioning me." I am actually slightly relieved. It must be the police that Delmas called. Although, you would think that he would've told them she was with Yolanda in the infirmary. Maybe they wanted to contact us first, though. Makes sense.

"That's not bad at all," I type onto my phone's screen. "Delmas called them. Aelita told today."

The door behind me opens to my surprise, and because I was leaning against it, I fall backwards into the infirmary. I look up and see the face of a perplexed Nurse Yolanda, and I nervously smile before scuttling myself off of the floor. I brush the dust off of my clothing and place my phone back inside my pants. Aelita is sitting on the end of the table, wearing her original outfit and swinging her legs off of the edge. She seems pretty okay.

"How did it go?" I ask.

Yolanda starts jotting something onto her clip board. "She doesn't have any STDs or infections."

Phew. "That's great!" I happily say, wiping my forehead in relief.

"Yes, it is. But she has a very extensive amount of cuts and tears that need to be taken care of before the _do _become infected."

"Oh." I itch my head. "Uh, how?"

"Well," she begins flipping through the pages on her wooden clipboard. "I can provide an ointment for some of the more external wounds, but, as far as the deeper ones go… she'll just have to be careful. I'll tell Jim to remove her from P.E. for the next month. They'll heal with time, but make sure she doesn't do too much running or physical activity, stretches, definitely not any splits… any of that could keep re-opening her cuts. "

Uh-oh. That's going to make fighting against XANA difficult. No running? Can she even climb down into the sewers?

"I also have set her up an appointment with the school psychologist. I think it would really help her. It seems as if she has trouble sleeping now, and is constantly re-living the event."

"You could say that again…" I mumble as I look past Yolanda and see Aelita aimlessly staring at her feet as she strikes them against the bed.

"You know, Jeremie, it's very kind of you to be taking such good care of her."

"Oh," I blush, tensely rubbing my arm. "It's not a problem…"

She giggles a little and then scrawls her signature on her paperwork. "You can take her back to her room now."

Later, Aelita and I are hanging out in my room when Odd comes along and welcomes himself inside. I don't mind of course, in fact I haven't seen much of him lately and I'm actually happy that he's stopped by. I feel like Aelita is the only person I see anymore and I'm afraid I may start to get tired of her. I have to make sure that doesn't happen. Suddenly, there is a tapping on my door and Odd gets up to look through the peep hole.

"It's the police guys from earlier," he informs as he turns his head to me and immediately invites them inside. They nod their heads at me. I stand up, attempting to be as polite as possible, while Aelita grunts in confusion and tilts her head.

"Good afternoon, officers," I say. They are both fairly tall and fit, probably about 6 foot even. Both are clean shaven and in their neatly tucked navy blue uniforms, several classy looking guns draped around their belt. The one on the left has a fair face and blue eyes, and under his police hat I can see some strawberry blonde strands of hair. The one on the right is a bit tanner, and I think his hair is black. Maybe brown, it's hard to tell, but I can picture him with black hair. There really isn't a significant difference between the two, though. I always thought most cops look exactly the same.

"Afternoon, I understand you're Mr. Belpois?" The blonde speaks first. The other stands inaudibly with his wrists resting against his hips.

"I am." I align my posture and fold my hands behind my back. I think I'm even starting to sweat; my heart muscle is getting a serious work out from thumping so harshly inside my chest. I know I'm not in any kind of trouble, but being around cops is always intimidating.

"I'm Officer Rose," he reaches out to shake my hand, "and this is my partner, Officer Petty. Are you Aelita Stones?" He looks over at Aelita, who is quietly sitting in my computer chair. Upon the calling of her name, she pipes her head up and directs her attention towards the policemen.

"Am… am I in trouble?" She clasps her hands over her mouth.

"Not at all," Rose confirms. "We're simply here to ask you some questions and try and get a lead on the guy who did this to you."

The other Officer with the darker hair, who apparently is titled 'Petty," turns towards Odd and I. "Would it be alright if we asked you two gentlemen to leave the room for a bit?" he asks. We aren't going to say no, of course, and so we exit the room and reluctantly leave Aelita behind. I'm so nervous whenever she isn't around me. I don't want to be too overprotective, though.

"Want to go back to your dorm?" I ask Odd as the door clicks shut behind me.

"We can't," he groans. "Ulrich and Yumi have taken over. That's why I came over in the first place. I don't wanna be around that!"

I snicker. "So does that mean they are finally official?"

"Good question. Who knows anymore?"

We both chuckle and lean against the wall, relaxing in the hallway. It shouldn't take too long, right? I hope not.

"So, what about you and Aelita, huh?" Odd nudges my shoulder and winks. I already know what he's getting at. Or at least, I think I do. Either way, my face is still red with heat.

"Uh, what about us?"

"When are _you _gonna become official, huh?"

"I… don't know what you're talking about." Is he talking about dating? Is he asking when Aelita and I are going to start dating? Why would we date? How should I know? Why is he asking me this? Why am I asking _myself _all of this?

"Oh, come on! You're not gonna pull an Ulrich too, are you? I don't understand what it is with you people and just spilling the beans! Getting it over with, you know?" Pull an Ulrich?! What is _that _supposed to mean?

"Uh... Well, I…"

He pats me on the back. "Okay Romeo, I get it. Maybe another day."

"Wha? Romeo?" Romeo? What kind of a name is that? A ridiculous one, that's what. I'm no Romeo, and Aelita is certainly no Juliet. And when I say that I just mean she's not going to poison herself over me, plus we've known each other far longer than 3 days, although she is as pretty as Juliet. Although, Juliet wasn't really all that good looking. Then again, no one is really good looking compared to Aelita. Wow, my thoughts are all over the place right now. How does Odd manage to do this to people? Now I see why Ulrich gets so annoyed when he brings up him and Yumi. This is awkward. Change the subject, Jeremie. Change the subject! Hello? WORDS! USE THEM! I tug at my sweater. The wool is clinging to my sweating neck and it's uncomfortable. Why am I so nervous? He's right; you should really just tell her how you feel, Jeremie. Am I giving myself relationship advice? Nice one, Jeremie.

"Uh, hello?" Odd stands on his tiptoes to knock on my head. "It seems the train of Jeremie's thoughts has left the station. Or should I say, train wreck."

I groan. "Very funny, Odd."

I hear the omniscient creaking of a dormitory door and look down the hall to see the two officers walking away. Odd and I scurry back into my room, and Aelita is still in the chair, tapping her fingers against my desk.

"How did it go?" I ask.

She shrugs. "They had me describe what he looked like and drew a picture. It was pretty accurate, too. He's a good artist."

"Great!" Odd yells, fist pumping into the air. "Now that they know what he looks like, they're already in the lead. See? I told you everything would be okay." He walks over to her and puts his hand on her, beaming down at her. She sniggers very lightly.

"Wow," I say as I open the blinds to my room. "It got dark quick."

"What time is it!?" Odd perches up, starting to freak out.

"Uh, 8:12." Somehow, I get the feeling he's about to complain about how he procrastinated.

"Oh no!" He shouts. "I have a paper due tomorrow and I haven't even started it!"

Yep, I was right. "Well, what's it over?"

"Uh, umm… Oh, no! I can't even remember!" He starts tugging at his hair, causing the perfected spike to start falling out. "This is a disaster; I can't afford to miss any more work for that class!"

"Okay, calm down. Want me to help you with it?"

Odd grins and wraps his scrawny arms around me. "You're the best, Einstein!"

I smile, and notice Aelita is stretching herself and heading towards my door. "I think I'm going to go hang out in my room for a while," she quietly says. "Read a book or something."

"Are you okay?" I ask. Odd lets go of me and takes note of Aelita.

"Yes. I just want to go lie down, besides, it looks like you two are about to have a lot of work to do."

"Do you want me to walk you there?"

"No," she smiles. "You've done enough for me." Does that mean she thinks I'm being too clingy? I knew it.

"Aelita, if you don't feel comfortable walking alone, it's not a problem…"

"It's okay, Jeremie. My door is only a few down. I'll be fine." She smiles again and waves at me before politely closing the door behind her. I think I'm swooning.

"If you would just tell her, Jer…"

"Tell her what?" I blurt, still staring at the door. I then shake myself out of my daze. "Oh, right."

Odd laughs at me before rummaging through my desk for some paper. Eventually, he remembers that his paper was for History, and was over the American Civil War. Just one of the boring research papers we are always assigned. He's blabbing something in my ear, and I'm intuitively spitting out answers without really thinking about it. The only thing that's truly on my mind right now is Aelita. I hear another knock. Is it Aelita? I sprint away from the desk and eagerly open the door. Oh, it's another police officer.

"Uh, hi," I say. He doesn't look like either of the others. He's a lot taller and a lot more muscular, but the hallway has darkened at this point because of how late it is and I can't really make out his facial features. If they've dimmed the lights, it must be like… 10 o clock at least. I don't know. I'm still not really paying attention…

"Hello," he mumbles. He's not as friendly sounding as the others and his voice is extremely deep and rugged. He is probably just tired though if it's late. Why is he here so late? "I'm looking for Ms. Stones."

"Aelita? How come?"

"I just want to ask her some things and try and get some information about what happened," he smiles down at me and clears his throat before suspiciously looking around the hallway.

"Uh… but there were some officers here earlier already."

"Ah, yes, my good companions. There are a couple things they missed, though, and I figured I'd stay later for my shift and come back to pick up the missing pieces. It'll get us started faster."

"Oh, sure," I say. It makes sense, after all. And he did say he was friends with the other cops. So he must be legit, right? I'm still really only thinking about Aelita. I keep thinking about what Odd said earlier and I'm wondering if he's right. Should I just go and tell her? Then I remember there's a cop in front of me waiting for a response. Oh, yeah. I point to the left. "Her room is the 4th on the left down there."

"Thank you, Mr. Belpois." He nods at me and walks away, and I shut the door.

"Uh, that guy seems creepy," Odd mentions.

"How so? Makes sense to me."

"I guess, but, I don't know…"

"Well anyways, where were we?"

I lean against the table as Odd sits in my chair and squiggles away everything I say to him. Occasionally he'll wildly start flicking through Google tabs to try and find more answers if I get stuck. I'm really not concentrating at all. It's usually not this difficult for me to accomplish school work, but, tonight… I don't know. I keep thinking about Aelita and how beautiful she looks even when she's covered in bruises. How pretty her hair always is even when it's a mess. And how happy she looks when she wears pink. The color really suits her. I can feel my heart pace quickening every time my own thoughts utter her name.

"Uhm, hello? Jeremie? You're supposed to be helping me, here…"

"Oh, right," I cough against my fist and clear my throat. "Uhhh… The election of Lincoln in November 1860 was the final trigger for secession. Efforts at compromise, including the "Corwin Amendment" and the "Crittenden Compromise", failed."

"The who and the what?"

"Huh?" I'm daydreaming again.

"Jeremie, just go tell her."

"Do you really think I should?"

"Yeah! It's not like she doesn't feel the same way. She just needs to hear it from you, first. That's how girls are."

I pause for a moment, my eyes fixed on the door in front of me. "But what time is it?"

"Uh," Odd leans in towards the computer and looks at the little digital clock. "Midnight."

"She's probably asleep. I should wait until morning, shouldn't I?"

"Well, I guess, but you probably won't be able to sleep anyways, and I'm sure she isn't sleeping either."

I stiffen my back and take a deep breath. "You're right," I agree. "You're right. I'm going to do it."

"Really? Right now?"

"Yeah!" I shout, feeling very confident. "Why not? Like you said, gotta get it over with. Spill the beans."

"Go for it, Einstein!" Odd shouts with glee and I walk out of my door, confidently charging down the hallway. He's right. Why not just spill the beans? Tell her how I feel? What's the worst that could happen? I'm gonna do it. I think we've both waited long enough. I've known how I felt since I first turned on the supercomputer, and right now I finally feel poised enough to tell her. I might not feel like this again, so gotta take advantage of the situation. The light in front of me starts flickering, distracting me. I pause and look upwards, and then I hear feet scampering behind me. It's just Odd, running behind me.

"I gotta be there for this," he defends.

"Hey Odd, what time did you say it was?" I tilt my nose towards the dying light, watching it go from a deathly overcast, to a vibrant glow, and then back to darkness in milliseconds.

"Midnight."

I snap my head towards him and raise an eyebrow. Uh, what? Midnight? "How did that cop get in here? Delmas is not around this late to accept his admission."

Odd shrugs and rolls his eyes. "I told you the guy seemed sketchy."

My heart starts to thump heavier and I feel my stomach boiling and slowly sinking down. I listen intently as the soft humming of the flickering light fills the silence of the empty hall. I think, I'm not sure, but I think, that I just heard a muffled scream.

And just like earlier at the nurse's… I can always tell when Aelita's the one screaming.

I sprint down the hall and grab ahold of the door handle, but it's locked. I tug and jerk but it's not budging. Now, Aelita always locks her door, but I still feel uneasy. I step back and plunge my body at the door, forcing it open immediately. Odd rushes in behind me.

Aelita is not there.

Her bedspread has been tossed onto the floor; her room looks as if a fought had been put up. The window is wide open. The curtains are blowing in the wind.

A small sheet of paper drifts onto the floor, landing by my right foot. I bend down and pick it up. The writing is very sloppily scribbled, as if it was done in panic-stricken urgency.

"I told her to keep her mouth shut,"it reads.

No. No… No!

The wind crinkles the edges of the paper downwards, pulling it out of my weak grasp. It falls back onto the floor where Odd picks it up and reads it for himself, exchanging the same horrified look that's plastered on my face.

I… I led him straight to her.

What have I done?


	24. Darkness

**Hey guys! Quick update for you. "Theft" is going to be being updated very slowly for the next month or so, and here's why: my dear friend, Estelle, is ILLUSTRATING it for us! She's producing a series of comics, and so I'm writing a lot slower to give her time to catch up, as it could very well take longer than a month for her to draw up to this chapter. You can see the illustrations on my tumblr or on my deviantArt. Both links to both sites are on my profile here. So, that's that! Keep a look out, guys!**

**Already completed is the Introduction, and Chapter 1. I can't post links in a chapter, so like I said, check out my Tumblr (there's a link on there that takes you to all the Theft related posts) or my dA and they will be the first two most recent posts.**

**Until then, I am also doing a "25 days of Fanfiction" challenge that offers 25 different Holiday themed prompts for one-shots, to help tide both you and I over until I can start writing this one again. Most will be Jerlita fluff, for your aching hearts from this story. Not all, though. See you Theft readers in a month!**

* * *

Darkness.

Where… where am I?

I groan and pull myself off of the ground. It's rock-hard, solid concrete. I'm freezing, and my head is throbbing. _Really _throbbing. I rub my aching temples as I fiercely shiver. I can't see anything. There are no windows, there is no light. No sounds.

I manage to pull myself to all fours, pressing my palms and knees against the cold ground. Each movement sends another painful surge to my skull. I've never had a head ache this bad before, and my mouth is _so _dry. I rub my fingers against my lips. They're horribly chapped.

I'm cold and I'm confused. I don't know where I am, and my head hurts so bad that I can't think straight. I don't know why I'm here or how I got here.

Leaning one of my wrists against the wall, I weakly bring myself into a standing position, falling against it as a shrill, severe pain shoots through my ankle. I can't put any pressure on it. It must be broken.

The wall is just as frigid as the floor. This entire room is made of concrete. My vision slowly starts adjusting to the black depths of the room. There's a small line of light coming from the edge that marks the divide between the wall and the floor. It must be a door.

Swallowing my own saliva hurts because my throat is so dry. I feel like I'm choking, like my throat is crackling into a canyon. Breathing hurts, too. Like my ribs pierce into my own lungs with each inhale.

What the hell happened to me?

I'm going to go ahead and say it's safe to assume that I'm not in the dorms. Or anywhere near Kadic, for that matter. I almost plummet to the ground every time I try and take a step. My ankle is throbbing in sync with my head, now. I manage to hopple over to the light source, using the wall besides me for balance. I press against it, and it moves back and forth slightly. Yep, it's a door.

I rub my palms up and down as far as the gate goes, but it's completely flat. There's no handle. It must only open from the outside. So whoever put me in here must really not want me to get out.

"Hello?" I choke. My voice is too raspy for anyone to hear. I clear my throat. "Hello?" I call out again, louder and more clear this time.

No answer. I start knocking on the door. "Is anyone there?" I cry out. "Hello!"

Yet again, no response. I fall to the ground as a rush of agony flies throughout the nerves in my skull, clutching my head as I whimper. I feel a cool sensation against my forehead, with tangled strands of my hair sticking to my skin, soaked. Blood.

I must have gotten hit in the head.

I groan, knocking my head against the door. What the hell happened?

I remember being curled up in my bed. The warmth of my thick comforter and solace of my favorite book and… and Mr. Puck. I remember holding him tightly and thinking about everything that has happened in the past three months. I'm human? I have a family?

A father? A father that went totally insane and threw me into a virtual world, at that. It was meant to protect me, but as I look around the stale, empty cage that I'm confined to, I don't feel like it did a very good job at doing so. Will I ever see him again? What about my mother? What happened to her?

I know little bits about my father; sometimes I have memories flash in my head that involve this doll and the Hermitage. I don't know the story behind the memories, but I know that when I see that strange man, it's my father I'm seeing. But my mother… what did she even look like? Did she have pink hair like me? Was she pretty? I can't remember.

Am I ever going to remember?

Last night… I remember hearing a knock on my door. And… that cop. Who said he wanted to talk to me about what happened…but as soon as I let him into my room I recognized him.

And then I remember something heavy knocking against my head. A brick, maybe? The last thing I remember is laying on the floor of my dorm, my surroundings all a blur. And now, here I am. Trapped away in a dark chamber, somewhere, some place.

I knew I shouldn't have told anyone. Jeremie promised me it was going to be okay. He. _Promised_.

He lied. I bite my lip as tears start spilling from my eyes. Does anyone know I'm missing? How will they ever find me?

I start to panic. How am I going to get out of here? What about XANA? What if he attacks while I'm trapped away? The entire world could end!

I start banging on the door, hoping someone who can help will hear me. I demand to be let out, to be freed, begging for answers and where I am, but nobody answers. I've exhausted myself and I slide down to the floor, lying sideways against the concrete and resting my head against my arms. Salty tears stream down my cheeks, mixing with blood from my cuts and scratches, burning my dry, chapped lips.

I'm cold and I'm scared. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Am I going to be here forever?

Am I… am I going to die?

I lay alone in complete silence with my thoughts.

I want my friends. I want Jeremie.

After a while, I can hear mumbling from the other side of that mysterious door. I sit upwards, clutching my knees to my chest and listening intently. Gentle chattering. I can't quite make out what's being said, though.

"…someone I think you'd like to see," I can hear a voice boom.

It's his. I know it is. It's deep, condemning, and slightly raspy. He's speaking the way he does when he's proud, disgustingly delighted with something. He's here. He put me in this room. He can take me out, too. Maybe if I'm nice to him he'll let me go. Maybe I still have a chance. Should I just tell him? Should I tell him about Lyoko and the supercomputer?

No, Aelita! I shake my head. How stupid was I about to be? Who knows what someone like him could do with that kind of information.

"Who?" It's a woman. She sounds confused. Even scared, maybe? I stare at the door and squint, as if seeing clearer would make me hear them better. I can't hear the rest of the conversation, though…

_What_ are they talking about?

I hear clicking and rattling. The sound of a key being slid into a lock, followed by the sound of a knob turning. I hear the door click. It opens very slowly and delicately, with a dim light slowly creeping into the room and nearly blinding me. I shade my eyes with my arm and look away. I can see two silhouettes at the frame and I start shuddering, because I can see him. I scuttle away and back myself against the wall, hovering my arms over my face in defense. The other one, though… I don't know who that is. It's shorter, and more slender; curvier. Long hair. That must be the woman I heard.

She takes one step into the room, the door opening further until the light is cast to the very end, revealing myself. I slowly lower my arms down to the sides, trembling slightly as the woman takes another step closer to me and then stops.

"No…" she whispers, her voice rattling with horror as she turns to face him. "No!"

She's angry, but also scared. Frantic, in fact. He smiles. I can hear his grimacing chuckle, and she almost lunges towards me before he grabs her arm and forces her out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" she screams from the other side. I hear a loud bang, like a fist being plummeted against a wall.

"The same thing I did to you, my dear," he fervently whispers.


	25. Articles Left Behind

I sit at my computer desk with the crumpled note still clutched between my fingers. I keep reading those same words over and over again.

_"I told her to keep her mouth shut."_

I can hear his voice as I read it. I can just feel his glare hovering over me as my eyes skew across such words. I feel like I'm going to be sick.

"It wasn't your fault, Jeremie," Ulrich rests his hand on my shoulder and speaks softly against my ear. It _was _my fault. How could I have been so stupid as to actually believe a legitimate police officer would be looking for her so late at night? I'm such an idiot.

"It was," I stutter. "Only a fool would've thought that was a real cop. Even Odd didn't believe it." Odd goes to speak, but he simply gapes with no words escaping his mouth. He more than likely assumed whatever he was going to say probably would've been better kept inside. No one else answers. They just stare at me with this weird look on their faces. A look of hurt, and despair; but also of pity. Guilt.

"I…" I choke. It's hard to get words out. "I don't know what to do." I let the fragile sheet of paper slip out of my hands. I don't want to look at it anymore. Yumi, Ulrich and Odd are all towering over me but nobody really says anything. I don't think there are any appropriate words for this situation. I remove my glasses and rub my sleeve across my eyes as they start welling up. I sigh.

"Why don't we go to her room," Yumi straightens her posture and softly suggests. "See if we can find any clues or evidence that will help us find out where he might have taken her?" I glance over at her, along with Odd and Ulrich. It's not a bad idea; but at the same time, I don't know if I can handle being inside of her room.

"Shouldn't we go straight to Delmas?" Odd retorts, "Contact the police?"

Yumi simply shakes her head. "We should look around first and see if there's anything there that we can hand to Delmas. That way, when the cops get here, they'll already have someone to go off of." I clench my fists against my desk upon hearing the word 'cop.' I don't know if I can trust any more cops. I was so quick to believe that guy was the real thing. Why wouldn't I be just as oblivious to others?

There is silence for a moment as we all contemplate the thought inside our heads. Ulrich breaks it. "After class," he says whilst glancing at his watch. "We'll meet up by her door and start exploring."

After class? I don't know if I can wait that long. Nonetheless, though, we all nod in agreement.

The day goes by agonizingly slowly. I tap my pen in impatience against the solid wood of my desk, but the longer I stare at the clock the slower the time passes. I almost wish I'll end up hearing that familiar, ominous beeping muffled inside of my laptop bag. It would get me out of class, at least…

Oh, no. What are we supposed to do about XANA now that Aelita isn't here?

My heart skips a beat as the treacherous thought enters my mind. I was so distraught over the fact that Aelita was missing that I had completely forgotten we have an entirely different enemy at hand still. No. This isn't the time to be so morbid, Jeremie. She _will_ be here again. She will be here again _soon_. You have to stay strong. For her. Don't wimp out like you always do.

Then comes the most painful question that I will continue to hear for the entire day as the teachers take attendance. I clench my fist against my pencil so tightly that my fingers dig into my sweating palms.

"Where is Aelita Stones? Does anyone know where Aelita Stones is? Jeremie?"

I grunt, before forcing myself to look Mrs. Meyer in the eye. "Uh, n-no ma'am. I don't." At least I'm telling the truth, though. I really don't. I look over at Odd and Ulrich as they're asked the same thing. They share the same mixed expression of confusion and gloom that I do, as well as a vibe of resentment from being compelled to answer such a question. We all glance at each other, before solemnly returning to stare at our notebooks as we begin taking notes. I have never cared less about the fact that a+b=c.

And then Mrs. Hertz's class.

"Why isn't Aelita Stones here? Odd, do you know where she is? Jeremie?"

Over and over and over again. I don't know where she is, okay! I wish I did. Believe me, I wish more than anything in this world that I did. I check the clock. Twenty more minutes until this class is over. I look over at Odd to see what he's up to. Scribbling something inside of his notebook, as usual. I lean over a bit. It looks like… like Kiwi. Does he ever draw anything else? I glance towards the table next to me and check Ulrich out. He looks half asleep. No, wait, he _is _asleep. Oh, no he's not. He's daydreaming, I think. I sigh and look back at the clock. Nineteen minutes.

Fumet's class.

"Ms. Stones? Stones is absent?"

Every time I hear her name I cringe. Like every little whisper of her name pokes a needle against my heart. Oh so gently, but enough to still leave a prickling sensation. Abe Lincoln this, Civil War that. I. don't. care. I just want this day to be done with. I'm sitting here in this stupid history class learning about stuff I already know for the most part, and Aelita is off God knows where…doing...doing God knows what. Or… or having God knows what _done _to _her._

No! Stop, Jeremie. Don't you _dare _think like that. I slam my head down against my desk. I'm done with class. I quit. I don't want to do school work today. No. It's not happening.

"Belpois, are you alright?"

I groan. Can't I just be left alone for one day? I force myself to sit upwards and sigh heavily. "Yes," I mumble. "I'm fine, sir." As fine as one can get when the most important person in their life disappears without a trace.

Except… was it without a trace? We won't know until we investigate her room further today. I check my watch. This is the last class until lunch period, and I don't know about Odd or the others, but I'm going straight to the dorms. The sooner we get to the authorities, the better.

The bell rings. _Finally. _I sloppily throw my books inside my bag and fling it over my shoulder, shoving past the other students as I rush out of the door.

"Hey, Jeremie! Jeremie, wait up!" Odd and Ulrich both cry to me as they desperately try to catch up. Am… am I running faster than them? I'm actually ahead of them for once? Wow. I guess I am. I hadn't even realized, because the only thing on my mind right now is Aelita.

Aelita, Aelita, Aelita.

I'm coming, Aelita.

Yumi is already waiting for us by the time we rush down the hall that leads to her door. She's perched against it, a smirk on her face as she greets us. "Ready, guys?" she asks.

Of course. "Ready," Ulrich and I both nod.

She raises her eyebrows suddenly. "Hey, where's Odd?"

Odd? What? He's right behind… what? Where _is_ Odd? "I… I don't know," I confess as I enquiringly turn around and scan the hallway.

"He was just right behind us," Ulrich declares. He looks at me, and I shrug in response. We turn back towards Yumi. She, too, shrugs, and slowly turns the door knob until it clicks. Gently, she pushes it open, revealing the darkness and barrenness that lies inside.

The room is cold, dark, and empty. It doesn't matter how much sunlight is shining through her wide open window, it still feels dark to me. Pitch black, in fact. There's no Aelita around to fill the room with light and warmth. I don't like being inside here. It feels wrong.

Nothing seems too out of the ordinary. It looks the same way it did last night. Her curtains are swaying in the breeze that sneaks through the window; still completely open from the intruder's meddling. Did she even lock it? No, don't try and curse her, Jeremie. It wasn't her fault. It's your fault, if anyone's. She'd still be here if you hadn't—

"Nothing that's catching my eye." Ulrich mutters, throwing off my train of thought. I'm glad he said something, actually. I don't need to stand here beating myself up internally. It won't help anyone, especially not Aelita. Yumi sighs as she looks through all of her drawers and cabinets.

"Nope," she agrees.

A timid barking erupts from the distance, rapidly growing louder until I turn around and am met with the sight of Odd's little terrier jumping into the room.

"Odd!" Ulrich shouts. "There you are!"

He smiles. "I thought I'd bring Kiwi and see if he could sniff anything out. Go get em, Kiwi! Show us something good." Obeying his master, he starts scurrying around the room and digging his nose through everything he possibly can, all whilst making very annoying noises. "But _quietly, _Kiwi!" Odd begs as he kneels down in front of his dog, urgently whispering while pressing his pointer finger against his lips.

Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and I all find something to lean against, impatiently waiting for Kiwi to find something of use. My hopes aren't very high, of course. Kiwi is just a mini bull terrier. Not a blood hound; or a K-9. Odd exhales unhappily and stands up as his arms collapse against his sides. He looks a bit fed-up. The rest of us kind of are, as well. Well, we tried. It's time to go to Mr. Delmas.

"Come on, Kiwi," Odd calls. But it seems Kiwi has actually found something to grab his attention. He's yipping incessantly and burrowing his nose underneath her bed. Something is rustling against his paws. He's… he's definitely found something. "Huh? Whatcha got there, boy?"

Kiwi tugs out a few articles of clothing. A dress, a hoodie… a pair of _underwear_?

It's Aelita's clothing.

He drops the thin fabric before his owner's feet, and Odd almost cringes a little upon glancing at it. "What good is this gonna do, huh Kiwi?!"

"Wait a minute!" Yumi orders, reaching down to grab the undergarment. "This is Aelita's underwear!" Yeah, it is. I didn't need to be reminded. This is too weird. I feel like I'm invading her privacy completely.

"Yeah, and?" Ulrich questions, but Yumi seems enthralled. She flips the article inside out, gasping as she reveals what lies inside. She looks… horrified almost. But also relieved, as if what she's found is going to help us immensely.

Odd, Ulrich and I all lean in slightly as she shows it off to us. The other's are fascinated, but I feel like I'm going to be sick and I step away immediately. I don't want to see that. I don't want to see the… the leftovers.

"Is that…" Odd points to the red stain that coats the dainty white cotton. All Yumi can do is nod, silently.

"It must be from the first night," she adds.

Yumi is right. This _is _going to help immensely. I refuse to face the others, but I add to the conversation nonetheless. "If it is," I start. "Then it should have some of his… er, DNA, on it."

"Which means the police will be able to send it in and have it tested. And we'll be able to figure out who it is immediately."

Should I be excited or disgusted? I don't even know what to feel anymore.

"Well," Ulrich speaks quietly. "We better get going, then."

Yumi crams the underwear into her book bag before we sneak out of her room, shutting the door behinds us. Instantly, we dart down the hall and head off to Mr. Delmas' office.

We're coming, Aelita. Hold on. _I'm_ coming.


	26. The Big Bad Wolf

Two adults reside inside an empty room, full of whirring computers and screens. A man stands dressed in a slick, dark suit, his arms properly folded behind his back. He stares at the screen before him, his eyes scanning the code that travels up and down the monitor. A woman sits at a table, a table with a map of the globe neatly strewn across it. She sighs, pulling a constricting band out of her hair. It releases the tight bun that had begun to give her a head ache, her midnight locks freely falling around her face.

"The only reason I agreed to join you," she mumbles, breaking the silence that had been filled only with the slight beeping of the technology, "was because you promised she would never be hurt."

He smirks faintly, with the glowing binary on the screen illuminating his stressed features. "She's not dead, is she?"

She groans. Her stomach churns slightly at the snide comment, but she's become far too accustomed to his behavior at this point and simply brushes it off. "I thought you said she had disappeared." Her words are soft and stale. They are not angry nor sad, but certainly not cheerful.

"I did. We were all sure that she had. She just…popped out of nowhere one day."

"That doesn't make sense." She hangs her head, rubbing her fingers against her throbbing temples. A spark of optimism enters her mind, though. "Does this mean…that he…?"

"I would assume so," the man spins around to face her, cutting her off abruptly. "And have you noticed something else, Ava?"

"What?"

"She is still twelve years old." Her eyes broaden and she re-directs her attention.

_It's true, she is. _The woman ponders inside of her aching head._ And she was born in 1982, which means at this point… she should be twenty two at least_. "That's… impossible." Her fingers dig into her own palms at the pang of both bewilderment and distress.

"You ought to tell me exactly what it is that second rate magician was up to," the man demands. "For your own good, that is."

"I've told you countless times, Zlo. I've told you everything I know."

He grunts at the pathetic comment, but feels it's no use looking for the answers in the defensive woman that sits lazily at the table. There is another source that now catches his devotion, but he'll deal with her later. "Ava," he asks. "What does Lyoko mean?"

Again, Ava groans. She is tired of the same, redundant questions, answers she simply doesn't have. "I don't know. I told you that. I don't know about anything he did after Project Carthage."

He scratches his chin in suspicious, whirling back to read the various screens that outline the room.

"Can I see her?" The woman stands up as she pulls her raven hair back into another bun.

"What?" Zlo turns around once more.

"Can I see her," she repeats herself, less enthusiastic this time. Her pale skin shimmers almost completely white under the luminescent lighting of the room, and her eyes beg him to let her go. But softness of her face is washed away by the evil in his.

"Certainly not." His answer doesn't surprise her in the least, but she had figured it was at least worth a shot. "We don't need you screwing anything up. Why should I trust you, hmm? After all, you liked to play games when we were looking for Waldo."

"You play just as many games, Agent Zlo."

He chuckles at her response. Daring and also sassy, as always. A trait he can almost admire. "I will, however, let you watch through the mirror when I take her to the interrogation room later."

"Alright, then."

She trails behind him as they walk through the darkness of the corridor, their footsteps echoing throughout the cold, musty atmosphere. Water trickles from the ceiling and collects in puddles, the only light being that of dimly lit torches that line the dirt walls. Shivers run up her spine with each step closer to the bunker that seals away the one thing she had craved most for the past seventeen years. Usually the frigid temperature didn't bother her against the black trench coat that dragged along the ground behind her, but today, for some reason, the icy air was piercing her porcelain skin. She hugged herself tightly, rubbing her hands up and down her own arms in an attempt to produce warmth.

The two agents approach the right door, and Ava doesn't even have to look at the number to know that this is the one. It's as if the girl tucked away inside emits a vibe that alerts Ava of her presence.

Agent Zlo nods at her, urging her to walk away quickly and unlock the questioning room they are about to use for another session of endless interrogation. Ava scuttles down the hallway, disappearing into the darkness. The door before Zlo creaks open, and the light from the outside slowly shines into the bland concrete, casting upon Aelita's brittle frame. She lies against the floor, staring aimlessly at the ceiling.

"Come," he orders, patting the side of his leg as if she were a dog. She weakly forces herself off of the ground, groaning as she holds her head that throbs with agony. Her tongue and throat are far too dry for her to speak, but she has no words to say anyways. She realizes fighting has become useless, and that resisting would only make her situation worse.

_Out of all the times to ever be weak, Aelita, _she ridicules inside of her head. _Now is not the time. _

Finally, she gets a view of her surroundings; a taste of where she had been locked away and what it really looks like. Her bare feet patter against the dusty ground, the darkness slightly tanned with the faint orange glow of the numerous flames aligning the wall. There is nothing but shades of grey and brown from mud and concrete, and the air is stagnant and cold. Sounds are muffled against the surface, and she finds it almost impossible to breathe. Wherever she is, she knows it's underground. And if it's underground, she wonders how Jeremie and the others will ever possibly find her.

But the area does not remain the same as they continue the mysterious journey. Soon enough the moldy ground fades away into solid, laminate flooring and the hallway brightens up with the presence of vivid, white walls. Now it feels as if she is inside a hospital. That was a place she'd much rather be, if anything.

They stop before another door, sealed away with a thick padlock and a space of buttons, waiting for code to be entered. He shoves her out of the way, scowling at her as she steps back, a conceptual demand for her to look away and not glance at the pin that he enters. There is a slight beeping, and a green light flashes on the doors handle before he pushes it open. He stands in the frame of the door, extending his arm and waiting for her to take the first steps. She obliges.

The room is empty and dark. _That must be the theme of the entire building,_ she thinks. _Nothing but emptiness and darkness. _A long table sits in the very center, with a humming, fluorescent light dangling above that almost blinds her compared to the black void she had grown used to. Suspiciously enough, there is a giant mirror pinned against the wall on the reverse side of the table. She glances at it, shocked to see what she has become. Her hair is a tangled mess, her face bruised and her eyes sunken. Her lips are chapped, with sores crusted against the corners of her dry mouth. She hesitantly touches her fingertips against her cheeks. They're cold and dry, and she can almost feel the dead skin flaking off with each gentle brush. When she glances down at her fingers, she is just as horrified. They're skinny and look like prunes, as if she had been soaking in a tub for several hours. Weight has been lost, and she's beginning to look like a skeleton. The chairs sit on the horizontal edges of the table, rather than vertical. Aelita takes a seat on the edge against the wall, while the suspicious man perches himself across from her against the door. The entire time, she makes sure to look away from the mirror.

On the other side of the room, the woman stands with her fingers resting against her lips. She nervously chews at her nails, but at the same time almost bursts with excitement like a giddy child. She feels emotions of happiness and relief, but also despair and fear. As she gazes upon Aelita and the battered mess she has become, she feels her heart sink inside her chest when she flashes back to the finals moments she had last seen her. She remembers the way her chubby, rosy cheeks once looked as they flushed against the cold, and the way her pink hair sparkled underneath sunlight. The way her small, dainty hands had to grab at everything they possibly could, and the way she would grin and giggle so much she would complain about her face hurting. Such memories made her drowning heart fill with subtle warmth, but such warmth was quickly replaced with a cold sting.

"_Mommy, no!" _The words echo into her ears as if she had just heard them a minute ago.

Ava shuts her eyes and forces herself to refrain from letting tears sneak out. In the presence of possible danger, she has to remain strong. One wrong move, and there's no telling what he may or may not do next.

The man in solid black taps his fingers against the table impatiently, waiting for Aelita to say something. He smirks the same way he usually does, realizing that perhaps she would be just like Ava in terms of sassiness and bravery. It would prove to be a challenge for him, but a challenge he was more than willing to take on. A little game could prove to be fun.

Aelita scowls at the irritating, consistent tapping that fills the complete silence of the room.

"What's your name?" she curiously asks, releasing the first question that pops into her head just so that he will stop tapping.

"What?" The man leans back in the wooden chair, folding his arms.

"Your name. You know mine, and I don't know yours."

He snickers lightly; pleased at the amount of nerve she shows as to ask for something as personal as his name. All the while, though; he figures, why not? "They call me Agent Zlo," he replies.

Aelita pauses, her arms dropping to her sides. "You're Croatian?"

"Why, yes. I am. You're very smart."

"Zlo means evil."

Again, he chuckles. "Quite fitting, don't you think?"

His sense of humor makes Aelita's stomach spin. Behind the mirror, Ava's is doing the same. She continues to stare harshly at the girl that painfully sits against the hard, wooden chair; daydreaming of the way she used to smile and the way she used to feel tucked against her arms.

"_Aelita!" _she cries out to her daughter, watching her hopelessly chase after the van she had been brutally thrown into. Her heart pounds inside her chest and she claws against the glass, but she falls back as the vehicle hits a bump and she sighs heavily, knowing there is no use.

She is thrown into a dark room, an old bunker of sorts, lights flashing against her.

"_Tell us what you know."_

"_Everything. What your freak of a husband was up to, what he was plotting."_

"_We know he wants to exploit us."_

"_We know he's in on Project Carthage."_

"_What was the purpose of that weapon?"_

It didn't matter how many times she cried out that she didn't know, that she truly was never informed as to what her husband did in his free time at work. It was a part of his life he kept mostly secret, and whatever he did tell she never understood anyways. But every desperate plea went unheard, and each tear shed result in another lashing until she was left numb.

"_I've got an offer for you."_

"_What."_

"_You could become one of us. With your brains and your daring nature, you'd give us a better lead than any of the others."_

"_You want me to help you track down my own husband so you can destroy him? No."_

"_If you join us, I can promise you this. Aelita will never be hurt."_

"_Never?"_

"_We are men of our word."_

"_Fine."_

"_We need to get rid of that pink hair. And from now on, you'll be known as Agent Ava. It means desired. Fitting, isn't it? You're certainly quite the catch."_

"Who's on the other side of that mirror?" Aelita asks, forcing herself to turn towards the shining metal. As she turns towards the mirror, she feels as if she's peering directly at whoever lies on the opposite side of the wall. She doesn't know who it is or why they're watching her, but she can sense that there's someone there. As if they give off a certain vibe that draws her to them.

As Aelita's emerald eyes unknowingly gaze directly towards Ava, she rubs her fingertips against the solid, stony glass.

"Aelita," she murmurs.

"You really are smart," Zlo mentions as she watches her gape at the mirror. He begins to think that a young girl with her level of intelligence might prove to cause some trouble. "There's a reward waiting for you on the other side."

"A reward?" Aelita snaps back towards the menacing man. "What kind of reward?"

He sneers. "You only get it if you spill the beans, little lady."

"I don't know what you want me to tell you."

Zlo scoffs, shoving himself out of the chair and turning to face towards the mirror. He folds his hands behind his back, straightening his posture as he makes straight eye contact with Ava on the other side.

"You know, Ms. Schaeffer. I really hate lying…" he trails off, glancing over his shoulder. "And as such, I won't allow myself to lie, either."

Aelita relaxes in the chair, crossing her fragile arms and raising an eyebrow as she contemplates where Zlo could possibly be going with this statement.

"And so I should tell you, that my real name isn't Zlo."

"I was wondering why any parent would name their child something that means evil," she retorts facetiously with a minor grin crawling onto her face.

"My name is Vucković," he confirms. "Or Vuk, for short." Glowering at Aelita, he leisurely goes to face her, watching her bright eyes widen with fear and sudden shock. He can feel the terror sweeping across her body. He can hear her heart skipping a beat. He can see her legs trembling.

"Wolf," she barely whispers.


	27. Incoming Call

The group of adolescents cautiously enters the main office of their academy, having not even bothered to set up an appointment prior. It's late afternoon, and the halls have mostly emptied out with orange sunlight brewing through the windows that line the corridors; adding to the eeriness and dreadful silence that follows them with every step they take. The doors to the headmaster's chamber creaks open, apprehensively inviting them in. Mr. Delmas greets them with sudden surprise as he casts away whatever papers he had previously been scribbling on, noting that there's certain solemnness in the aura that surrounds them. It doesn't take a second thought to realize their arrival is related to the pinkette who just so happened to miss all of her classes today.

Bravely, Yumi takes a step forward while the boys remain behind, their heads hanging low and their arms drooping by their sides as they glance at each other with nervous looks. They lack any desire to peer in and get a closer look at the detail of Aelita's trauma.

"We found this in her room," Yumi confirms as she pulls the fabric out of her bag and hesitantly holds it before Mr. Delmas. He adjusts his glasses and leans forward, before immediately jolting back in his chair. He clears his throat, trying to find the right words to say, but Yumi adds to her statement before he has the chance. "Aelita's gone missing, sir."

"What?" he gawks, tugging at the collar of his shirt as his heart skips a beat, or perhaps even two. The safety of his students has always been a top priority, and now, one of them was in uncertain danger.

"We think it's the same guy who—who did this," she stretches the underwear a bit between her hands before lowering it below the desk, keeping it out of both of their sights. "Actually, we're positive it is."

With trembling hands, Delmas reaches towards the phone that rests on the countertop. "I'll phone the police," he quietly affirms with sternness in his voice.

Not much is said after that. Leaving behind the articles of evidence, they nod their heads and exit his office, trusting that things are now in the right hands.

"Well, that's taken care of," Yumi says, but Jeremie quickly and angrily cuts her off.

"Hardly," he states, his voice cold and stale.

"What are you talking about?" Ulrich joins the conversation, sharing the same confused look as Yumi. "With that kind of evidence, they'll have a direct lead to the guy. Delmas already called the police, so—"

"That's just it," Jeremie scowls, his gaze fixed on the hardwood floor beneath his blue sneakers. "Why should any of us trust whatever cops show up looking for her, huh? That's the whole reason she's in this mess to begin with."

"But Jeremie, that guy obviously wasn't a real cop."

"Yeah," the blonde mumbles, feeling slightly hurt. "_Obviously."_

"Hey, come on… that's not what I meant."

He shrugs, blowing at the loose strands of hair that dangle in his face. "I think we should try and find her ourselves."

"What!?" his friends cry, taking a step back and exchanging baffled looks before gazing upon Jeremie with inquiring skepticism.

"Hey, Jeremie," Odd retorts, "You've really gone off the deep end!"

"Exactly how do you expect us to do that, huh?"

At Ulrich's meager comment, Jeremie merely smirks.

* * *

Sitting in the chair of the laboratory, Jeremie types away with surprising confidence as his companions crowd around him. Code jazzes across the screen, nearly blinding the others while the adolescent genius stares with no trouble at all.

"You already know that I have all of your phone numbers implanted into the supercomputer's interface," Jeremie half-confirms whist also half-asking a question. He glances over at his friends, peering at their nervous faces through the thick rims of his glasses as they nod in response.

"Yes," Yumi steps forward for the group.

"The reason for this is because your mobiles themselves are directly linked to the computer, which gives me the ability to dial your numbers from the interface. This also gives me the ability to trace your phones, as the supercalculator has an internal Global Positioning System that can track any amount of data that so happens to be connected to it. In this case, that is your mobiles."

Ulrich scratches his head. "Uh-huh…"

"Aelita's phone is also in the supercomputer. This means I can track hers, too."

"So you can look up on the computer and figure out where Aelita is right now?" The scrawniest of them jumps with excitement, the purple in his hair glowing underneath the lights of the factory. "Well go on, do it!"

"Hold on," the blonde replies as he removes his fingers from the rigid keys. "This kind of tracking uses a lot of data in the supercalculator, so I can't let it go to waste. We need to make sure that Aelita's phone is actually on her, otherwise it'll be a waste of power and we may risk strengthening XANA."

"Did you ever think maybe this whole fiasco is one big XANA attack?"

"Yes—I did. But I've run the superscan multiple times, and there are no activated towers."

"What if the superscan is broken?"

"Well…all we can do is hope it isn't…because Aelita isn't here to deactivate it."

Picking at the lock of her room, the door slowly opens and Odd backs away with the bobby pin tucked away between his fingers. "Bingo," he whispers.

They slip inside cautiously; looking in all directions to make sure Jim hasn't been sneaking around to stop them in their crucial endeavor. Flipping the light switch, everything remains just as it had been the previous day they were inside her room. It was both a relieving and also painful sight.

"What now?" The brunette whispers, curiously looking over at Einstein to discover his master plan. In return, Jeremie smirks and pulls out his own cell phone.

"Simple. We call it and see if it's in here. If we don't hear a ringing, it's safe to assume it's with her." Just as Jeremie begins to dial the familiar numbers, Yumi rests her hand over the keypad and stops him.

"Wait—What if someone picks up? Someone who isn't Aelita?"

Jeremie's heart skips a beat, and he glances anxiously back and forth from the mobile to Yumi's face. She's right—what would Jeremie do, in the instance that a stranger picks up? He wouldn't be prepared for that. His stomach tightens slightly at the thought, but he shrugs the feeling off and decides it's the only option. If someone picks up, then someone picks up. He'll go from there.

With his fair-skinned hand shaking oh so slightly, he raises the phone to his ear and listens to the calm, consistent ringing. It echoes from the speakers of the mobile and fills the nagging silence of the room, with nervousness boiling inside the blood of the warriors that stand so sternly in the empty room.

And then, the tiniest fear that tucked away in the back of his mind comes true. A sudden click—the click of the other line picking up. Jeremie's eyes widen, and he looks over at the others who now crowd around him, leaning in towards his ear in an attempt to understand whatever may happen.

"He—hello?" he stutters, hoping for some sort of response. Nothing more from the receiver other than a simple, devious chuckle. Jeremie's fret and apprehension is immediately replaced with anger, and he begins yelling through the line. "Where is she?" he orders, refraining from holding back any thoughts that enter his flustered mind. This may be the only chance he has to ask. "Tell me where she is!

The person on the opposite line of the call repeats the same, deep laugh as before, and follows his amusement with a foreign sentence. ""Ja sam najviša točka u Parizu, ali ja sam također najniža. Tvoj prijatelj Della Robbia može vam pomoći s ovim, on zna više nego bilo da postoji više nego što se čini."

Jeremie's brow furrows in frustration. "What?!" he shrieks. "You don't speak French!?" And finally, a response that sends chills down the boy's spine. A soft, high-pitched howl, that of resembling a wolf. The other caller then laughs once more, before the disappointing 'click' of the call coming to an end. Jeremie brings his hand down by his side, his fist clenching against his cellular.

"What did he say?" Ulrich asks, desperate to know what had happened. Instead, Jeremie snaps.

"Get a piece of paper!" he demands. "Quick!"

Odd runs to Aelita's barren desk, pulling open the drawers and scavenging for any sort of scrap that can be scribbled upon. He cries in relief as he finds a clean sheet of paper, slamming it onto the desk as he alerts Jeremie. "Here!"

Jer runs to the table and pulls a pen out of his pocket, scribbling down whatever he could possibly remember of what he had heard. He writes it only the way it could be pronounced, lacking the slightest clue on what the words themselves would be. "I don't know what he said," Jeremie finally confirms. "But here's what I heard." He hands the paper to the others, letting them exchange it as they all mumble in confusion as to what the meaning could be. "I know that he mentioned your name."

"It's a different language?" Yumi gapes. Certainly not Japanese, she could affirm that much.

"Maybe Russian," Jeremie taps his finger against his chin, his eyes narrowing with thought. "I'm not sure. I can translate it with the supercomputer…it definitely sounded Eastern European.

* * *

In a dark laboratory, two forensic scientists partner up and slave away at the computers as they investigate the case of missing Aelita, along with the gracious evidence they had so been provided. One grabs a cotton swab and delicately swipes the faded stain in the underwear, collecting a sample of the precious DNA that will surely give away the identity of her attacker, giving them a head start. More than a head start, at that—in fact, it would give them a giant leap.

The sample is run through a device that thoroughly investigates DNA and matches it to whomever so owns it—the computer containing DNA of every individual in the country. In fact, it would be simply impossible for them to not find a match.

"Running it now," one's partner says as the interface before him begins scanning through each identification card that may or may not match, the computer buzzing and whirring as it furiously scrambles through the possible criminals.

The humming of the search stops, with an alarming beep following. One of the men removes his safety goggles, peering in towards the bright screen in pure bewilderment.

"I don't believe it…" he mutters, his voice shaking with disbelief and suspicious.

"What?" his partner responds, joining his side before the calm look on his face is so suddenly replaced by the one on his co-worker's.

"There is no possible match."


	28. Reality

She couldn't tell you how much time had passed. All she had become accustomed to was the constant darkness, with even the littlest flame of a candle burning her eyes if she so tried to look upon it. She knew not when the sun would rise or when it would set, when crickets were singing the songs of night time or when birds were alerting the world of morning. The only thing she knew was the never-ending darkness. The growling of her stomach begging for food, and the shivering of her fragile body as it begged for warmth. The ground was hard and uncomfortable, and her head ached relentlessly with dehydration and the pain from the previous attack.

The air was stale and dusky, as if she had been thrown inside of a basement that had suffered years of water damage. But still, she knew it wasn't a basement. It didn't really _feel _like a basement. Basements were part of homes, and this place was not homey at all.

There was another thing she had grown used to, as well: the same, strange woman that continuously snuck through the tiniest crack of the open gate and slipped inside little things like water and granola bars. Aelita wondered who she was, and more importantly, why she was helping her. It would seem that anyone acquainted with this… Agent "Zlo" would want nothing less than her own demise. But with this woman… it was different. The light would creep in from the hallways whenever she opened her door, and Aelita would lean over and try and get a peek of her features, but never to any avail. The woman's lengthy black hair always masked her face, and Aelita had yet to even see her eyes. All she saw was the mass of hair. The long, flowing locks that mimicked the color of a raven and still managed to shine beautifully as if Aelita were looking at moonlight from a midnight sky. It was the closest to the outside world she could get, at this point, and she even wondered how this woman managed to maintain such beauty even while being cooped up in this facility. Were there showers? Did she have a home that she went to at the end of each day? A family to care for? Did they know what she was doing, what she was a part of?

She nibbled on the granola bar that had recently been thrown into her cell, usually breaking off half immediately and then saving the rest for later. She never knew when the woman would come back; if at all, and so she was vigorously saving every last crumb. It was dry and bland, crumbling apart inside her mouth and almost painful to swallow if by chance the woman had refrained from bringing water with her. All the while, though, it was better than nothing. And when the lady stepped inside her cell, there was something about her that emitted a friendly vibe. Something that almost brought warmth into the icy aura of her cage. Something that whispered to Aelita, _"I'm here."_

But the reality was that there was no one there. She was entirely alone. She wondered where her friends were. If they were trying to find her, if the school even knew she was gone. But such thoughts were quickly erased and marked off as foolish—of course they were. She knew very well her friends would do anything for her. She knew that they'd come find her soon enough, no matter how impossible it seemed.

And all the while, she couldn't help but think of XANA as well. If he had attacked during her disappearance, and how they planned to stop such attacks. Aelita was the only one who could deactivate the towers, and without her around, well… there was nothing that could be done.

What if this entire thing was all one big ploy of XANA? What if she were trapped in a sort of replika, surrounded by spectres? What if everything she saw was merely a virtual creation of XANA? It would explain why he had been so seemingly dormant for the past months—because he had been plotting something bigger.

There was never an entire week where XANA took hiding. So the fact that they had so suddenly gone over two months without action from him made her nervous. Chills crept up and down her spine, but she was quickly pulled out of her violent collection of thinking when the think, chamber door was forced open before her again.

Was it the woman? No, the woman never opened the door this far. And she also never brought her entire body into the room like that. Aelita sighed, she knew who it was.

"You again?" She smirked, risking her own safety with such retorts. At this point, though, she only half cared.

"Mouthy as usual, I see," Vuk replied with a hint of pride and also anger in his dense voice. "Come on," he orders, extending his arm as he led her out of the door. They continued the same path or rough flooring that scratched at her feet until it faded into the smooth, solid laminate. The dimly lit halls morphed into vibrant, humming lights and she had to force herself to squint and stare mostly at the floor. No matter whether or not she looked; Vuk had his hand firmly gripped on her bony shoulder the entire walk to hold her back in the attempt she strayed elsewhere.

He opened another door, the familiar tapping of his thick fingers against the keys before the positive beeping as the door clicked open. Leading Aelita inside the same, cramped room she had been in previously, he forced her into one of the chairs where she leaned back and folded her arms.

"Are we really going to do this again?" she whined. Vuk chuckled, pulling on the string that dangled from an overhead light bulb, with the soft light clicking on and causing Aelita to grunt in slight pain as she hid her eyes in the corner of her elbow.

"You'll get your freedom when you tell me what I want to know."

_Freedom? _The term echoed hopefully inside her head, but reality swatted it away. "Define freedom," she ordered. Aelita wasn't silly enough to believe he'd let her go that easily. Vuk recognized this, and followed her demand with another, casual laugh.

"I considered letting you go once I got what I wanted, but…" he tapped his rugged fingers against his lips, a smirk crawling beneath them. "You've already proved I can't really trust you."

"You've already taken all that you can. I'm not sure what else you want from me."

"I want answers. Tell me about your father."

"He's dead." That was the correct assumption after all, wasn't it? Whoever this man was—this, Franz Hopper—hadn't been heard of doing anything other than creating the supercomputer and Lyoko. Aelita knew he _went_ to Lyoko with her—but she also knew he didn't come _back_ with her.

"Dead?" he mocked, slamming his fist onto the table so fiercely that it sent vibrations across and through Aelita's brittle body. She cringed at the overbearingly loud sound that pounded throughout the room. Was that really necessary? "Last time I checked—you had disappeared off of the face of the Earth, along with your father. Now you're back again. But where is _he?"_

"I told you," she replied amongst a whisper. "He's dead."

"You seem awfully concerned about that," Vuk sarcastically scorned.

Aelita groaned, holding back words through her gritted teeth. The more Vuk demanded from her, the more her mind went haywire. She attempted to calculate all of the possible consequences. What worse could they really do to her? What would he even do with the information she provided? What if she couldn't even possibly give him what he wanted—what if the answers he desired were ones she simply didn't have? She was still trying her best to even put the pieces together _herself. _No memory of her life before Lyoko, no recollection of her parents or any pre-existing family…nothing but taunting nightmares and hallucinations, and journeys to the Hermitage that gave nothing less than useless, subtle hints.

"Speak."

"Augh!" Aelita screamed, bashing her puny fists against the dense metal of the table in front of her. "My father built the supercomputer! He built the supercomputer, he built Lyoko, and he built XANA—everything inside of it. It was all his work. Lyoko is the virtual universe inside of it, and XANA is an artificial intelligence—an evil one at that. He also built scanners, scanners that can take people to Lyoko. He took both him and me there, and that's when we 'disappeared.'" She stopped her ramble, heavily panting with the anger that coiled inside of her as she glanced upwards at Vuk and the smug grin on his face.

But the smug grin was quickly replaced with a disappointed frown. "I already knew all of that," he spat. "I want to know _why _it's there. And _why _did he take you, such a little girl, to a virtual universe? Hmm? What was his plan? Your father was up to no good, child. The answers I want are what his motives were."

"But—but…" And now, the only thing Aelita felt was pure terror. She didn't _know _what his plan was. She certainly didn't know _why _she ended up on Lyoko…just that somehow, she did. And it was because of her father that she did. It was official, then—Aelita didn't have the answers Vuk sought, and so she couldn't convey him even if she wanted to. More than likely, it was over for her.

The two sat in silence for a long, agonizing moment. The soft buzzing of the light bulb filled the tension in the room, while Vuk plotted in secrecy and Aelita desperately tried to figure out what it was that could be coming. He turned his chair around so that he was now facing the mirror that took up the entire wall. Feverishly, he sneered—as if he were directing his grin at someone behind the mirror.

"Those French Alps," he mumbled. "That you were living in." Aelita looked up and whimpered. Was she? Aelita didn't know where she did or didn't live before Lyoko. Her head was starting to ache from the vast amount of confusion being thrust at her. "That silly little house surrounded by woods. Why would your father choose to live in a house like that… with such a little girl around. Everyone knows that the woods are full of _wolves_."

Aelita winced, her fingers gripping the edges of her chair. Howling into her ears, she could hear the faintest sound of a wolf's cry. For her, the worst kind of sound. She shut her eyes, refusing to further look at the evil man before her.

He noticed her reaction, and he knew what she was thinking and even hearing—and it pleased him. For him, this would be the appropriate method of torture. A punishment for not giving him what he desires. A trigger, if you will. "Why is it that you are afraid of wolves,_ Aelita_?" He emphasized her name—it being the first time he had addressed her by her first name, instead of simply "Ms. Schaeffer."

"I don't…" she trailed off, with growls and continuous howling thriving inside of her mind. "I don't know…"

"_And I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!" _Franz recited from the book in his hands as he watched his little girl pull the covers up to her nose, trembling behind the thick sheets. _"It's just a story, dear," _he attempted to console as he tousled her hair. _"Would you like me to stop?"_

"_No!" _she pouted, dropping the blanket back down to her lap. Franz smiled down at her, before continuing the story.

"_Mommy, there are strange men outside," _Aelita pranced over to her mother, tugging on her pant legs as Anthea rushed to the window and looked outside. Leaning down to her daughter's height, she whispered against her tiny ear with urgency.

"_Aelita, what do the little pigs do when the bad wolf comes to their house?"_

"_They hide," _she innocently replied.

"_Right,"_ Anthea replied with a nervous smile on her face. _"And that's what you need to do. Go, hide!" _She pushed her daughter away, urging her to run to the nearest place of secrecy she could come across.

"_Aelita, these men are like wolves. When you see them, you need to run. Do you understand?"_

"_Yes, mommy."_

Aelita sat in her chair with her head buried against the table, and her hands clenched into firm fists. Tears pooled into the corners of her eyes before making their way down her cheeks, and Vuk continued to stare at the mirror with his smile only growing.

Images of snow and trees flashed inside of her head—memories of building a snow man as a child. Memories of that little house in the Alps, and memories of her parents graciously watching over her as the ask her to stay near the house. And Aelita wished she had stayed near the house, too—away from the woods, away from the wolves.

The wolves that peered out of the depths of the trees and glowered at her, urging Aelita to look towards her mother and see that she was no longer there. Forcing her to look over and see her mother being thrown into a van, forcing her to see her father desperately running after it.

And then at that moment, Aelita realized there were no wolves that day.

There were only the men, dressed in black.


	29. Riddle Me Not

Aelita.

That was the only thing on his mind anymore. Finding Aelita.

He didn't care how hard it would be or how long it would take. It had to be done. Something, although he didn't know what, was telling him that the police wouldn't be able to do this. That no forensics team or crime scene investigation group could accomplish this task. Something was telling him that this was _his _job. That finding Aelita was in_ his_ hands, now.

Part of him wished he didn't have to deal with this at the age of 13. But such selfish thoughts were immediately washed away, when he remembered that he still had to find a way to defeat a monstrous A.I. trying to take over the world. That scared him, too. At any moment in time now, XANA could attack. Not only would it halt his search for 'Lita, but also, Jeremie would have _no_ idea how to combat it. After all, she was the only one who could de-activate the tower.

Anxiously, he decided to start up a superscan. He watched it browse through the towers of Lyoko, crossing his fingers in his lap and looking at the screen through half-shut eyes.

Nothing.

This didn't relieve him in the slightest.

For now, though, his work with XANA would have to be put on hold. He didn't even remember the last time he had sat in the factory to run a superscan other than just now. He hoped that the qualifications of the quantum computer would somehow lead him to Aelita—like right now, for example, as he sat in the laboratory running a universal translation to try and figure out what the hell had been scribbled on this paper.

Maybe he'd be able to tell if he hadn't been forced to write it in such a hurry, copying down what the man had said before it left his short term memory. It also didn't help that the only languages Jeremie spoke were French and English, so whatever he had scripted was solely pronunciation based—not the language's actual characters. That was probably making it more difficult for the translator to recognize.

He wasn't sure how long it had been running at this point, but his patience was wearing thing. He tapped his fingers against the arms of the chair, growing restless as the words spun around on the screen in front of him. Looking around and noting how empty the factory felt, his stomach churned and his heart sank the slightest bit.

Anytime he was working like this in the factory, Aelita was always by his side. Her not being here just…didn't feel right.

All the more reason to keep working.

He didn't have much time to dwell before his attention was caught by the familiar sound of the elevator door springing open behind him. He turned around to see his friends prancing inside, with seemingly glum looks on their faces.

"Bad news, Jeremie," Ulrich stepped forward with his hands in his pockets, the others hanging their heads low before glancing at each other.

"What?" The flaxen boy replied, removing his glasses from his sweating face and rubbing the lenses against his shirt.

"We just got back from Mr. Delmas' office. The police said that they couldn't find a DNA match for this guy, so… they've got no lead on whom it could be."

Jeremie sighed and sat in silence for a brief moment, placing his glasses back on his face. Part of him cursed the idea and the police for having failed so soon. The other part, though, wasn't surprised. Wasn't surprised at all.

"I was afraid of that," he responded softly, before clearing his throat.

"What do you mean?"

More silence. Jeremie clenched his fingers against the arms of the chair, trying to conjure up how he could put this. He feared it wouldn't make sense to the others, and that he'd have to go into much more detail than he wanted. Sometimes he wished he could block this out and pretend it wasn't happening. That wouldn't accomplish anything, though.

"Do you remember those men that Aelita always talked about in her dreams? The ones she always hallucinated?"

"The ones in black? Yeah, of course."

"I… it's the same guy that she described as attacking her. Sunglasses, black suit, tall and dark, that kind of thing."

"So you think whoever was after her and her father is the same guy we're dealing with now?"

"Well, yeah. I do."

Yumi stepped forward, shaking her head. "That's kind of a steep conclusion, don't you think?"

"Yes, it is. But think about it—he knows about Lyoko and the supercomputer. He knows all of our names, even though we don't know his, and he's demanding to know more about Franz Hopper."

Ulrich and Yumi glanced at each other with apprehension, letting out a heavy sigh. "I guess you're right," they agreed.

It was a steep conclusion. None of them even knew if the Men in Black were real or not, or if they were all just a figment of Aelita's imagination and the memories that she couldn't remember. What _was _real, though, was whoever it was that was coming after her. And he wasn't playing around. So the Lyoko warriors didn't have time to play around, either.

Jeremie continued. "I think he's coming back to finish what he started a long time ago."

Finish what he started.

It was a gruesome thought, but it was probably true. And they needed to hurry up and get to her, before he could get to _them._

That was another thing that haunted Jeremie at this point. If he had already grabbed Aelita, what was stopping him from coming back for the rest of his friends, or even him? He could come for them next, and make sure they made no advancement in the quest to rescue her. The scariest thought of all was how much power this guy probably had. More power than they had yet to witness.

Someone could lose their life.

Someone could_ lose_ their _life._

They all faced this thought every single day against XANA. XANA had a scary amount of power, too, right? So why was _this _guy so much more…menacing?

Jeremie's stomach roiled once more. Maybe it was because he wasn't facing the _chance _of danger…he was facing the _reality _of danger. Aelita was already gone. He had no idea where, no idea how to get to her…no idea if she was even still alive, at this point.

He shook his head. He wouldn't let himself think like that.

The silence had brewed in the room for too long, and it had to be broken before he went insane.

"So…how is the translating going?"

Jeremie nearly screamed with relief. For once, Odd has saved the day. "It's…going," he said dryly. "I don't quite know what language it is exactly, and so I haven't got much to go off of. The program is virtually on it's own, which is making it work harder and slower."

"Let me see it," Odd demanded as he took the paper from Jeremie's lap. For a moment his eyes scanned the sentence back and forth and he softly muttered the words to himself, but it didn't take him long at all to come to a conclusion. "It's Croatian."

"How can you be sure?"

"Italy borders Croatia. I hear and read it all the time. This definitely sounds Croatian."

"Ah…" Jeremie puckered his lips in slight confusion and shock. He was surprised that, for once, Odd had honestly provided valuable input. "In that case…" he brought his fingers to the keys in front of him, ordering for the translator to now scan only through the Croatian language, and not that of every language in existence. Surely enough, it worked.

Ulrich, Odd and Yumi took leaps forward to stand closer to the screen, balancing against the back of Jeremie's chair to lean in and read what was developing before them.

"I'm at the lowest point of the highest point," Jeremie read. "Your friend Della Robbia knows more than anyone that there's more than meets the eye."

Immediately, they all turned their heads toward the little blonde. "What?" he shrugged. "Why are you staring at me? I don't know what it means!"

"The lowest point of the highest point…" Jeremie repeated. He scratched his chin gently as he pondered the meaning of the mysterious sentence. It seemed that the man in black had decided to toy them further with a riddle. Although, it seemed easy enough.

"The Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in France, right?" Yumi added, glancing down at Jeremie nervously as she tried to put the pieces together. He nodded.

"Does that mean she's at, or in, the Eiffel Tower?" Ulrich asked.

"But why would he hide her in the most obvious spot in all of France?"

"That's exactly why," Jeremie realized as he slid out of his chair, his hands folded behind his back. "It's so obvious that no one would ever think to look there."

"Wow…" Odd gasped. "Looks like we shall be spending the day in Paris, then."

"But what about the other part of the riddle?"

"It's probably not important. He may just be trying to throw us off." Without hesitation, Jeremie threw his school bag over his shoulder. "Let's go."


	30. Notation

The photo was old, the color faded and doing no justice to how vibrant her hair had been, the corners folded over and torn. Sitting alone at the table, she brushed her fingers against the Polaroid's edges over and over again. The only sound that filled the room was that of her soft sniffling. But the emptiness in the room wasn't comparable to that of her own heart.

Hearing him walk in, she tucked the photo away into the pocket of her shirt and let out a heavy sigh. "Are you ever going to let me see her?" Her voice was quiet, and dull.

His response was simple. "Probably not."

There was no argument. She had learned too many times in the past that there was no point. He would always find a way to win. Once more, she sighed.

More silence. For the years that she had been a part of this agency, there had never been so much silence. So much coldness and darkness. Maybe it was because, for the first time in the years she had been here, she was actually forced to witness the cruelty she had hoped to never become directly involved in. She was forced to watch her own flesh and blood be shoved away inside an abandoned bunker, where she would freeze and starve.

Ava's fists clenched against the chair she sat in. Mothers were supposed to look after their children. Mothers did not let this happen to their children, and mothers were certainly not the _reason _this happened to their children. Ava would not let herself become the reason behind anything worse that Agent Zlo would put her through.

Ava didn't even know what he had already done to her—not specifics, at least. She didn't really _want_ to know, but she felt like it was her duty and _right_ to know. Her _responsibility_ to know, even.

"_The same thing I did to you, my dear."_

Her stomach churned as his words echoed inside her head. That was enough to let her figure out what had happened—and even worse, what would happen soon if Zlo wasn't satisfied. Ava didn't even know what Aelita looked like, anymore. The only time she had seen her had been for very brief moments with very minuscule lighting. Why was everything suddenly so dark, anyways?

She worked in a high tech laboratory that had blinding light around every corner. So why had her and Zlo only been hanging around in the bunkers? In the darkness and the very depths of Paris?

For her torture and his satisfaction, she assumed. Whenever the association had a new "captive"—they liked to call them—specific persons were assigned to watch over them like a hawk. And what better person to assign to such a task than the one who had found her in the first place, and the one who brought her onto this very Earth?

Wonderful.

The goal of this twisted agency was to get answers, and run the captive into the ground until they got what they wanted. Ava never saw the logic in this. It usually never worked. Thinking about this now, her stomach sank. It never worked because the captives were usually determined and would refuse over and over again.

…Right up until their death.

"Why not?" She finally asked. There _would_ be an argument this time. There _was_ a point this time.

Slightly surprised, he turned around and faced her with his thick eyebrows quirking into a perplexed expression. He looked appalled, even. Wondering how she could so _dare _to even ask a simple question.

"You know why."

"No, I don't."

"You can't be trusted."

"I've been by your side for over _fifteen _years."

_More _silence. It was true. He had no comeback. Zlo, of all people, had no comeback. Perhaps he simply felt the discussion wasn't worth continuing. He smiled to himself.

"What if one of yours was here?" She continued to probe.

Zlo remained with his back facing Ava. But slowly, he glanced over his shoulder, peering back at her for a split second. "My what?" He replied, his voice hesitant.

Ava narrowed her eyes. "What if one of them showed up inside a bunker? You'd want to see them, wouldn't you?"

His fists clenched at his sides, anger beginning to boil inside his blood. He had to retain his composure of course and keep himself from throwing her against the wall, as they were too close to the borders of the main headquarters for someone to not hear the sudden thud.

Believe it or not, disrespect among agents was frowned upon. Friendship and building close relationships was also discouraged, but there was to be no abuse to fellow 'brothers' and 'sisters.' He took a deep breath, running his hands through his slicked hair.

Although he had attempted to ignore the question, she still continued. "You know you would."

He gritted his teeth. "There will be no talk of this."

"The truth sets you free. You said that, not me."

"I say a lot of things."

His polished shoes clacked heavily against the laminate flooring as he stormed outwards, the door slamming shut behind him and jolting the table in the center of the room. Ava cringed at the thud, glowering back at the closed door. Alone once more, she pulled the photo out of her pocket and stared at the child's porcelain features. She turned to face the door again.

When one door closes, another opens.

Ava knew that things were in her own hands now. There would be no way the police would be able to get a lead on Agent Zlo. None of the Men—or Women—in Black ever let themselves submit any sort of fingerprint that could be stowed away in government property. If her daughter were going to get out alive, Ava was going to have to set her free herself.

It was a long shot, but at this point, she honestly felt she had nothing left to lose.

Zlo would be gone for a while, perhaps dwelling or taking his anger out on something—or someone.

Probably Aelita.

All the more reason for her to act quickly.

Aelita grew more miserable each day. She was skinny, malnourished, and constantly cold. She was also frightened, and tired of being alone. Right now, she would rather be on Lyoko fighting against XANA than this. She would rather be doing anything else in the world than this.

She was also getting hungry. That suspicious woman hadn't dropped by in a while, not with water nor some form of nutrition. The sound of her grumbling stomach soon became something she was both accustomed to and also longing for. It reminded her that she was still alive.

Thinking about XANA made her uneasy. Without her around to de-activate the towers, how were they even fighting against him? Had Jeremie programmed a way to get someone else inside a tower? Surely he'd be able to come up with something if he really had to.

Right?

What if he hadn't, though? What if XANA had attacked, and whenever she would finally see the light of day again…there was no more light?

Would she escape from her prison and step outside to see a world embraced in flames?

She shuddered at the thought.

With seemingly nothing else to do, she leaned against the frigid concrete of the walls that encased her and tightly hugged her knees against her chest. Repeatedly, she knocked her head gently against the wall. Perhaps this was all simply a dream, and she'd wake up soon enough. Perhaps, if she closed her eyes tightly enough, she'd open them back up to see the sunlight through her window and the smile on Mr. Puck's face.

But when Aelita did open her eyes, all she saw was the pool of blackness that flooded the room that she was still stuck inside. She wasn't even sure what the room did look like because it was so dark. Was there some sort of secret passage, maybe a hole in the wall? Was there anything other than rock and mildew and little puddles of freezing water dripping from the cracks in the ceiling?

She desperately wanted to do something. To try _something. _But what?

There was no getting out of this mess. Not alone.

She thought about Kadic and her friends, and even Jim and Mr. Delmas. She wondered if anyone had figured out she was missing yet. If maybe they were already searching for her. If maybe, they were on their way right now to save her. Providing that they were still… well, that they were still _there. _If XANA hadn't already taken care of them.

She buried her head against her knees and let the tears stream quietly down her face, softly piddling against the cold Earth beneath her. She felt weak and pathetic for not having anything to do, but also felt that resistance was, quite frankly, futile. All she could do was wait and hope that someone would help her. Somehow.

But just as she curled up in the corner of the room and felt that there was truly no hope left inside her fragile mind, a soft rustle echoed from the door of the cage she had been locked away in, and from the light of the crack underneath the door frame she could see something slipping inside.

Eagerly, she crawled over to it on her hands and knees and felt around the darkness and the cold stone beneath her fingers. The dim, golden light coming from the hallway outside shone in just enough to outline a piece of paper against the floor, and surely enough the clamminess of the Earth below turned into a soft yet also rough feeling of a neatly folded sheet. Was it a note? She unfolded it instantly, but was met with another dilemma. She couldn't see it. At all.

Even holding it around the soft glow underneath the door wasn't enough to light up every word. She strained herself and held the note in all directions against the crack, but to no avail. How was she to be able to read a note in such pure blackness? And more importantly—who _wanted _her to read it?

The most she could get out of the note, by slipping the paper halfway under the door to get enough light just to illuminate the edges, spelled out a most curious invitation.

"Aeli…

I'm hav…ouble getting…ou, but I'm tryi…st know that I w…e there soon. I p…mise. I lo…ou."

No signature. Or maybe there was one, and she couldn't read it. Now she had only _more _questions to ask herself. For once, she actually hoped that Vuk would return soon. Maybe then, she could catch the note in the light from the door just in time for her to be able to see what the missing letters in between were.


	31. More Than Meets The Eye

Paris.

Always so lively—the heart of France, some called it. Although was that really an appropriate term? Perhaps not, perhaps the title had only been given because of how much life boomed throughout every square inch.

To accomplish the mission, the Warriors had to sneak off of campus in broad daylight—and that was a task that had proven most difficult. With as bright as the sun was shining, Jim could easily see miles across the courtyard—even into the depths of the forest. And oh, he was on the prowl.

It took a few different attempts—Yumi had successfully snuck off of the grounds her first try, with the boys simply drooling in disbelief at how she'd done it. Maybe it was linked to her heritage—being Japanese, Odd was convinced from then on she was secretly a ninja. And, needless to say, the other three were thankful detention was _all _they'd gotten. In a rush, they sprinted away from the fences that outlined the Academy as quickly as they could, before 'Jimbo' could catch them—_again. _Yumi only laughed.

For once in a lifetime, the gang was having trouble catching up to Jeremie. His heart was racing inside of his chest—part of him wanted to scream, he was so anxious, but the other part was holding back a grin—because he was also _hopeful. _The sun so bright and golden today, not a cloud in sight and the town and shops were all so…_alive. _How could _anything _go wrong today? Yes, he was convinced. This was it. The answer to the riddle—he'd go to that Eiffel Tower and he'd see her, pink hair shimmering under the sun's amber rays. He could picture it now, just how beautiful she'd be.

Well, perhaps not—she'd been gone for weeks now. Perhaps she was malnourished and thin. But it didn't matter! He would rescue her, and he'd take care of her and restore her health. And it would all happen today. He was so _excited. _

"Jeremie, slow down!" Ulrich cried out, but the blonde merely shook his head and scoffed.

"I'm not slowing down—we can't waste another second."

And it was true, there was no comeback to that—everyone was suffering from the loss of Aelita. Her smile, her optimism and her humor—her curiosity and love for knowledge, her intelligence and her generosity. It was something that group _needed, _because without it, there was just…fear. And constant anxiety. But although Ulrich, Odd and Yumi missed Aelita dearly, none of them could imagine just the toll it had taken on _Jeremie. _And yet, he seemed stronger than all of them. Hopeful and determined. Maybe Aelita's qualities had rubbed off on him.

"—_Sheesh!" _Odd gulped. "Look at that _line!_"

The others frowned upon their approach towards the famous landmark—the Eiffel Tower. _That _was the true heart—lying in the very center of the entire city. And at night, it was even _more _brilliant. But besides its height and its glimmering lights, there was one other thing the tower was known for. It's popularity.

The line looked like they would be waiting for at least an hour. In fact, sixty minutes was a long shot—they'd be lucky to have to stand on their toes for _that _little.

Jeremie groaned. "No—no! I don't have _time _for this."

The others frowned. _None _of them did. And Jeremie had seemed to twist things into being about him—as if he were the only one who cared about whether Aelita was saved or not. They bit their tongues, not wanting to aggravate the situation—after all; he was under as much stress as all of them. Jeremie sighed, turning to face the group.

"What now?" Yumi questioned, her shoulders shrugging.

They stood in silence. The only solution was to wait. "We have to get up there," the blonde replied.

She nodded. "Yeah—but do we really want to wait?"

"Want to? Probably not," Odd joined in. "But—what _else _would we do?"

"Climb?"

"I'm surprised you, of all people, suggested _that _one Ulrich."

"Not to mention," Yumi retorted, "the police might shoot us right down from it. I don't think they'd be too happy, seeing that."

"I don't _care _about the police."

The others turned their heads to Jeremie, who remained frozen in the center of the sidewalk, fists rapidly clenching at his waist. Yumi cocked her head to the side—but maybe it was understandable as to why he was so bitter towards authorities all of the sudden.

"Why?" Odd asked.

"Why?" He snapped his heads towards the small boy. "Why do you _think, _huh? It's because of them—because of _them_ that Aelita isn't here."

"Jeremie, you can't say that."

He sighed. "Maybe not. It doesn't matter. We're wasting time—let's _go._"

And so they hopped in line.

And it moved very slowly—and there were one too many occasions where some small child screamed in Odd's ear while clinging to their mother's neck, or where a rude tourist tried to squish their way to the front. None of the adolescents could understand just _why _everyone loved this damned tower so much.

"So—what do we do when we go up there?" The brunette asked, peering in towards the group standing in front of him. "I mean, is she just gonna be standing there? Holding up a sign with her kidnapper that says 'Hey, here I am?'"

"I doubt he would give her away that easily," Yumi nodded along.

"Well what do _you _expect?" Jeremie mocked. "I'm just following his dumb riddle! He said at the highest point in France."

"Jeremie," Yumi rested a hand on his shoulder, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I know you're upset. We all are—don't forget that. Aelita is our friend too. But I think that you should try to calm yourself, and think logically. Are we going to waste the time and money to get to the top of this stupid tower and honestly expect to see her just standing there, waiting for us to take her?"

The blonde's fists clenched—she was right. And he hadn't really put too much cognitive thinking into this whole situation. He was just desperate to get her back—and truthfully, wasn't putting as much effort as was required towards the riddle.

"The riddle," Odd continued on, "didn't say the highest point of France."

"Right." Ulrich nodded. "It said the highest point of the _lowest _point—and it mentioned your name, something about how you would understand-"

"-That I would understand there's more than meets the eye. But what does that _mean_?"

The group took a gracious step backwards, staring at the scrawny child before them. Odd raised his eyebrows in confusion, wondering what had caused them to leap back so suddenly and peer into his very soul. Or at least, that's what it felt like.

"I'd say there's more to _Odd _than meets the eye," Yumi smiled.

"Yeah…" Jeremie agreed. "Because he's so small—"

"Hey, you're not exactly a giant yourself, Einstein!"

"—I was _talking_. Because he's so small, so at first glance, that's all you see. A skinny little kid. But then you get to know him."

"And you see that he's funny, and caring and sweet." Yumi coincided. "And that with as skinny as he looks, he's still pretty tough."

"And _annoying,_" Ulrich jokingly added.

"So…" Odd shrugged. "Mind telling me what you're doing? How does picking on me help Aelita?"

"We aren't picking. We're observing—you're a part of the riddle, Odd. There's more to you than meets the eye, and you know that because all people do is call you small."

"Uh—huh…"

"Which means…" Jeremie tapped his chin. "That there is more to this riddle than meets the eye."

"So Aelita must not actually be at the top of this tower," Yumi's eyes widened.

"No! But the riddle _did _mention that she was located in the highest point of all of France. But rather, the _lowest _point _of _that point. Which means…"

"—Wait!" Ulrich cried. "I know this—because I actually studied for my History exam last week!"

The others tuned into his words, listening intently.

"In World War II, there were a lot of underground bunkers built for the Nazi soldiers to camp out in. There are some located all over France—right beneath our feet," he gasped, glancing down towards the ground. "Which means…"

"Which means Aelita _has _to be down there! That's it—that _has _to be it!"

But there was no time for cheering—not just yet. Because even if that were the true answer to the riddle, how would they go about reaching her?

"But _how _do we get _down _there?" Yumi pouted.

"I don't know," Jeremie sighed—his sudden look of excitement dwindling away to one of disappointment. "But at least we know where she is."

"We could tell the police."

Jeremie narrowed his eyes. "I don't trust any of them. How do we know one of them isn't one of this guy's spies? And if we tell him where we think Aelita is, all he'll do is contact his boss and move her elsewhere."

"He's right."

"Then what do we do?"

"We go back to the factory. And we figure something out."


	32. AN : The End of Theft

After four months of struggling to pump out even another paragraph for this story, I've decided it's time to call it good. This fanfiction has run its course, and from the very beginning of this story I never truly knew how I was going to finish it. I'd only had up to the kidnapping planned out; after that, I was lost. And once I had actually written up to that specific scene, from then on I was _still _lost. It's a difficult piece, it's very hard to come up with anything realistic to tie things to a close. Even if I did force myself to finish this story, it wouldn't have been an ending I think anyone would enjoy.

More importantly, this story started way back in December when I had only been writing for a couple of months. There are harsh words, awkward sentences, extremely poor characterization and common grammar/spelling errors littered throughout this entire story all the way up until around Chapter 30, which is when I started to develop my own writing style and improve further. What I'm trying to say is-I'm not proud of this story, I think it's a poor example of my writing capabilities. That's another huge factor as to why I don't care to finish it.

It is possible that some day, in the future, I might regain my muse for this piece and suddenly bring it to a close. But as of right now? It isn't happening anytime soon.

I appreciate everyone who's let this story get as many reviews as it did, I appreciate all of my followers and those who have stuck with this dragging piece as long as it has. Thank you so much, you guys are the reason I bother writing in the first place. Because you let me know that as bad as I may think my own work is, there's so many out there who enjoy it.

This is the end of Theft, but this isn't the end of me. I have a new story in the works-Befallen. I fully intend to finish it, and I've grown into a comfortable writing style where I'm genuinely pleased with how that story is going. I would love to see those who followed Theft so diligently follow Befallen as well, but it's only a suggestion.

See you around~

_-K_


End file.
